The Hymn of a Broken Man
by Ami Rotter
Summary: A year after the war George Weasley is still coming to terms with the death of his brother Fred. This is having a negative effect on the joke shop and the relationship with his girlsfriend. Can a unknown witch change his outlook?
1. Get a Grip

George looked around his mess of a flat, as he spent the third consecutive hour sat on his couch. In the year since Fred died, he seemed to be spending a lot of time on his couch and had let things slip at the shop too. It had been like his heart was ripped out from his chest when his twin brother was killed during the war. There had been a couple of months of family mourning after the war, before George decided to move out on his own. The middle Weasley child had barely spoken to his parents since then; only being able to think of his brother when he did.

George pushed the takeaway boxes as he made his way to get another fire whiskey, to drown out his feelings. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard a knock on the flat door, so he gave up on his mission and head over to the door.

"Seriously George, I have been trying to get in contact with you for two days now." Angelina walked in to the flat and immediately began tidying up. "I even went to the shop on my lunch time and it was closed, both times. Have you even opened up the shop this week?" Angelina and George had been dating since the end of the war, but things were strained now as George became worse and worse.

"You know you could have come to visit me here, which is where I have been." George folded his arms as his girlfriend berated him.

"You are completely missing the point; I have been working my ass off to save up so we can actually buy our own flat together, but you don't seem to notice this at all." Angelina threw the empty carton of pumpkin juice, she had been holding, back on the floor. "It has been a whole year George, you have to move on; Fred wouldn't want you to be like this." The mention of his brother's name caused George to flip.

"How would you know what he would want? You don't know him like I do; you have never lost like I have. Sometimes I wish you would just leave me alone to be how I want to be; there is nothing wrong with missing your brother." His arms were now flailing all over the place, fuelled slightly by the fire whiskeys he'd consumed earlier on.

"No there is nothing wrong with it, but you really need to move on or you'll end up a complete mess."

"I don't need you talking in my ear like this I am a grown man and I can do as I please; so if you'd kindly piss off."

"Don't worry I am going and you can rest assure I won't be talking to you anytime soon. You can forget about us moving in together; I deserve better than how you've been treating me. From what I have seen this past year you are definitely not a grown man, you are still just a big child and a complete idiot." Angelina stormed past George, who didn't try to stop her, and slammed the door as she left the flat. He was now stood, still surrounded by a mess despite Angelina's best efforts, in the middle of his flat alone again.

After a couple of moments of contemplation, George walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the almost empty bottle of fire whiskey from the counter. Not content with this measly portion of whiskey, George rummaged around in the cupboard and brought out a full bottle. With his new friends George walked out the door and began walking towards Diagon Alley. As he walked through the streets he began taking large gulps, straight from the bottle. Stumbling along the road, George got several looks from people still on their way home from work. He eventually reached the front door of his shop and began fumbling for the key, unsuccessfully. After much effort he finally got through the door and finished off the two bottles, before falling asleep on the floor behind the counter.

George's peaceful sleep was broken by a loud knock on the door; the noise caused, the still slightly drunk man, to bang his head on the underneath of the counter. Dazed by the bang on the head he placed both hands on the top of the counter to pull himself up, to find in was now morning. He rubbed his eyes as he walked to the door, where a twenty-something witch was eagerly smiling, waiting for the door to open.

"Hello, sorry to interrupt your work there," the witch clearly thought he was setting up the shop and not sleeping off a drunken stupor. "It's just I'm heading to my nephew's second birthday party and I haven't got him a present." George suddenly became aware that he smelt of alcohol.

"Yes please come in; I have to go and sort something out at the back, but please have a look around." George ran to the storeroom and found an instant spruce up potion he had been working on a couple of months ago. Once he was satisfied that he no longer smelled like a brewery, he made his way back in to the shop. "Have you found something you like?"

"Yeah I do like the look of this dragon thing." She had picked up toy that would generate a small dragon when opened, which could be played with. Instead of blowing fire the dragon would blow tiny fireworks.

"Oh yes, my nephew absolutely loved this toy and it doesn't cause any damage to the house. You can get around twenty hours of play before you have to get a top up spell. I can give you a top up for half price in case he does play with it too much. My nephew managed to go through two top ups, in a week, he played with it so much."

"That would be wonderful; you really have saved my life here." She smiled. "My sister would have killed me if I turned up without a present. I am rubbish at buying presents I always until the last minute; I normally do my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve."

"Well you see it helps that I own a joke store never short on things to buy people." George smiled for the first time in two days.

"Do you really make all of these toys yourself?" She looked around at the mass of products which lined the shelves.

"Yep, although I haven't made that many in the past year; hopefully there will be some new ones over the next few months."

"It's amazing, how do you even come up with all these things?"

"I don't know really, me and my brother used to invent all sorts of things when we were younger."

"Well I'm definitely glad you have this shop or my sister would never talk to me ever again, not that it would be a bad thing." She muttered to herself as she began to walk away. "It was nice to meet you and I'm sure you'll see me in the shop, for more presents, again."

The witch's jolly nature had cheered George up briefly and he decided to open up the shop for the first time that week. Exhausted by the end of the day he decided to go and see his brother Bill, the only member of his family he spoke to regularly. He would see him about once a week and they would drink themselves silly and George would forget about all of his problems. Tonight would be no different; Fleur had gone to the Burrow with the kids, she was now good friends with Hermione and Ginny, and the house was empty. The middle Weasley closed the shop door, before apparating to his brother's garden, which was somewhere in Scotland. Bill had moved to Scotland for some peace and quiet; being a wizard though, he was never too far away from everything.

"George, I've been wondering where you've been. You didn't come up to visit last week I thought maybe you'd left the country." Bill pulled his brother in for a hug.

"Yeah sorry about that, I've been wallowing in my own pity again." George laughed; Bill new about his brother's emotional swings and they would make jokes about it. It helped George to have someone to talk to and didn't try to make a big deal of it.

"Ah I see, well I hope you've managed to get yourself back up on your feet again." They walked in to the living room, where there were two beers sat on the coffee table.

"Sort of, it has been a bit of a weird two days to be honest." George took a sip of his beer as he sat down on the couch. "Angelina and I broke up yesterday."

"Ow, brother I'm sorry; what did she say?"

"I don't blame her really; she said she deserved better than me. Although, It was after I told her to piss off, because she was telling me to get a grip on myself."

"You really do have to get a grip on yourself George; she is completely right about that."

"I know, but I will do it in my own time."

"Whatever you say, but if you leave it any longer you're going to end up like Filch from school. With weird hair, a cat as your best friend and no family; just be careful."

"Thanks Bill I knew you'd be sympathetic." George laughed; the pair slowly consumed the contents of Bill's house and by two in the morning they could hardly stand. Fortunately for them Fleur had decided to sleep the night at the Burrow or they would be in trouble at the state of the room. There was a bottle of fire whiskey lying on its side dripping, the small contents it held, on to the floor. While there were also several bottles of beer strewn across the room, causing a bit of a smell.

"Right, I think it's time for you to go to your own bed; I don't want my wife to come home and find you in one of the kid's bed." Bill staggered to his feet and began dragging his brother up also.

"Bill, can I tell you something?" George couldn't lift his head to look at Bill, so he just stared down at the floor as he spoke. "I think I might be in a little bit of financial trouble."

"In what way?"

"I don't know the full situation, because I need to talk to my accountant, but basically I have a few bills outstanding and if I don't get them sorted I will have to sell the shop. I haven't been opening up quite a lot so I'm not making enough to cover the rent and the wages." George stifled a sob.

"You're such an idiot." Bill dragged his brother outside. "You need to talk to your accountant as soon as possible and get this whole mess sorted out. You have invested far too much in to the shop and I am not letting you lose it now. Right, try not to splinch yourself and remember Charlie is coming home in four days, so we are having dinner at the Burrow, don't miss this one or mum will have you killed!"

"Yes sir!" George mock saluted at Bill, before apparating back to his flat and immediately collapsed on to his bed.


	2. Will you Marry Me?

Harry could feel his heart going a hundred miles an hour as he began to lay the table for his romantic dinner with Ginny. He'd been living with Ginny for a year now and it was probably the fifth time he had ever cooked for her. Harry was good at magic, in fact he was very good at magic, but when it came to cooking he was a complete shambles. There was no magic with this one today, because he wanted to make it 100% special. As he put the knives and forks down, a gentle whiff of burning tickled his nasal passages.

"Shit!" Harry legged it in to the kitchen to see the lamb, he was roasting, was beginning to turn black. "Why don't they teach you this at school? A bloody Patronus charm isn't going to help me now." Harry couldn't help but laugh at his ineptitude. He looked up at the clock and began to panic, because Ginny would be home from work in ten minutes. Hurriedly plating up, Harry nearly dropped the vegetables on the floor, but eventually got it all on the table. Ginny walked through the door only moments after the plates had touched the table.

"Wow Harry, did you do all of this?" She said dropping her bag where she stood.

"I did my best, but I can't guarantee it will be that good; I know you've been having a tough time at work recently so I wanted to treat you a little." Harry took Ginny's coat and bag, before placing on the banister by the stairs.

"I'm sure it will be lovely," Ginny pulled him in for a kiss. "I can't believe you did all of this for me."

"Well I did it because I love you." Harry gave the cheesiest grin he could.

"Should I get the bucket to be sick in?" Ginny laughed at er own comment.

"I'll get it for you, would you like some wine while I'm at it?"

"Oh yes please; red if we still have some."

"Right, well you take a seat and I will be back in a moment." Harry came back with two glasses of red wine. "There you go and I hope the dinner isn't too bad."

"That has hit the spot, I am glad this day is over."

"Tough day?" Harry took a sip of his wine, his heart still going like the clappers.

"Florence has been moaning in my ear all day, about how we should be doing this and that. I swear she is trying to scupper my promotion; I mean she keeps trying to point out the things she doesn't like which I do. I can't wait until I'm her boss and I will actually be able to tell her what to do and I could even fire her if I wanted." Ginny let out a massive sigh.

"Have you let the power go to your head before you've even got the job?" Harry let out a small laugh.

"I'm sorry; I'm just sick and tired of her bitching at me," Ginny said while taking a massive gulp of her wine.

"Let's just forget about work this evening; this is supposed to be making you feel better."

"Right I will stop, and by the way Harry this dinner is lovely. You shouldn't be so down on your cooking, it really isn't as bad as you think it is." Ginny shovelled a mouthful of vegetables in to her mouth.

"Erm, Ginny can we talk about something?" Harry made the tone slightly more serious, without intending to do so.

"This sounds ominous," she let out a nervous giggle.

"Don't worry, I love you Ginny, so much. I never told you this, but I have been in love with you since I was fourteen years old. Even now I get butterflies when I see you and I am always trying to impress you." Harry could see tears welling up in Ginny's eyes as he went down on one knee. "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life and I would be the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?"

"Are you serious?" Ginny's hand was visibly shaking.

"I am so serious; I want to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"Yes!"

"What?" Harry couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Yes you idiot, I would love to marry you!" Ginny leaped off her chair, knocking Harry over, and kissed him full on the lips.

Since seeing Bill, George had managed a whole four days in a row in the shop; it had been a couple of months since he had done that. Business was a bit average though; apparently that busy day was a one off. He was working hard, but people had seen the shop closed so often they never knew when it was supposed to be open. The only customers he would get were passing trade, which really wasn't much with many people still out of jobs. For the past couple of days he had been opening up at midday and closing around four or five; there weren't enough people in Diagon Alley these days. George nearly jumped out of his skin while locking the shop, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Bloody hell, I thought someone was coming to kidnap me." George laughed when he realised it was the woman who'd come to buy a present for her nephew.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you like that." She smiled timidly.

"Do you make a habit of coming to buy things from a shop when they're closed?" George finally caught his breath. "Did your nephew like his dragon?"

"Oh yes he love it he didn't stop playing with it all day."

"I'm sorry, but I have to be somewhere, but if you're quick you can buy something." George turned the key the other way to open the door for her.

"No it's ok I came over to see you and introduce myself." She shuffled nervously from foot to foot.

"Ok." George was a little confused. "You know most customers don't come to introduce themselves."

"I know, I'm such a dork. Oh God Kaycee what are you doing?" George wasn't sure what to say to this bumbling woman in front of him. "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me."

"Em, the thing is"

"You don't, that's fine. I wasn't really expecting you to say yes." Her face began to go red.

"I'm sorry it's just I only got out of a relationship, which I really messed up. I don't think I'm ready to ruin another one quite yet."

"Well if you feel like changing your mind this is my address so you can owl me." Kaycee grabbed a pen from her bag and wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper. She knew it was cliché, but she hoped that George would take up the request to go on a date.

"You could really do better than me; I've not been a very nice person at the moment."

"That's not the man who was such a great help to me a few days ago. Just keep me in mind and I'm sure you won't regret it at all." The witch said nothing more and walked in to the distance; leaving George stood in the doorway of the shop. He stared at where she had been for a few moments before closing the door and apparating to the Burrow. George could see his sister Ginny and her boyfriend Harry on the couch, deep in discussion. As he made his way through the front door, they shushed him before he even got the chance to talk.

"What's going on in here then?" George whispered, while making his way to the couch. The pair simultaneously pointed upstairs where there was a muffled noise. Ginny produced the same ears they once used to eavesdrop on the Order meetings. They snuck upstairs and fed the ears down the hallway until they could hear the voices of their parents, loud and clear.

"Arthur you can't keep burying yourself in your work; I don't want you to forget about Fred, but I also want you to remember that you have six others and a wife. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one trying to hold this family together and I can't do it anymore."

"Molly I don't know what you want me to do, I am still struggling to get used to losing Fred."

"We all miss Fred like crazy, but if you don't start supporting me I don't think I can continue with this marriage." With that Molly stormed out of the room and down to the kitchen to finish preparing Charlie's welcoming home dinner. The Weasley children only just managed to move the ears out of the way, before she came out.

"We can't let this happen, we need to make sure they stay together; neither of them could live without each other." Ginny looked at the two men.

"We should wait until the others get here and make some plans." Harry agreed.

"Right, now let's go down stairs so we can start getting dinner sorted, because I'm starving." George made to walk back down stairs before Ginny grabbed him and pulled him back.

"We can't just walk down the stairs or they'll know we heard them and everything will just be uncomfortable. We need to climb down the drain pipe and walk through the front door, like we just arrived."

"Really Ginny, do you come up with these plans, just off the top of your head?" George looked at her incredulously. "I'm not bloody sliding down the side of the house for no one." He crossed his arms and refused to move.

"Well do you have any better ideas of getting downstairs without our parents knowing we heard their argument?"

"I can't believe you're making us do this." George said, as they began to slide down the outside of the Burrow, before making their way around to the front of the house.

"Well, you didn't come up with a better name and if we apparated it would have made a loud bang." Ginny said matter of factly. "Now pretend we've only just arrived and heard nothing." She pointed at Harry and George.

The three youngest Weasleys walked through the front door as nonchalantly as they could. Arthur and Molly were also pretending the incident of five minutes ago had not happened. It was obvious to their children, who had heard the whole affair, that there was a tension in the air.

"Ah you're finally here; I was beginning to think you had got lost." Molly's face suddenly lit up as she hugged them each in turn. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"They are going to be a little late because Hermione has to go to St Mungo's for a check up." Harry said, as he was released from Molly's tight hug. There was a brief silence while no one knew what to say to each other.

"Do you know when Bill and Charlie are going to get here?" George finally broke the silence.

"They should be here any moment now; would you three help me set the table." They followed her in to the kitchen while Arthur busied himself away from his wife. The tension slowly eased as the excitement about Charlie's impending arrival. Around a month after the war ended Charlie decided to take up his job in Romania again. Each of the Weasleys had reacted differently to Fred's death and this was Charlie's way of coping with it. Ron had decided to ask Hermione to marry him and they were wed within two months. Bill had focused on building his own family in Scotland; while Ginny decided to make sure she would be head auror within two years.

Percy was still struggling to come to terms with how he treated his brother before his death. Arthur had barely spent any time at home leaving Molly to take care of the house and their children. Charlie hadn't seen his family since leaving for Romania, but decided it was time to come home and attempt to settle down and start a family.

Molly nearly cried as she saw Charlie walk through the door. "Oh Charlie you're finally here," she said while rushing to him. "Are you definitely in England to stay now?"

"Yes mum you don't have to worry, I am here to stay." He had forgotten how good it felt to be with his family. Once Molly was sure Charlie wasn't going anywhere she moved the welcome Percy and Bill to the house.

"Charlie, it's good to see you boy." Arthur hugged his second oldest son so tight his eyes nearly came out.

"You to dad, I missed you guys so much," there were tears welling up in Charlie's eyes.

"We missed you two, your mother has been worrying ever since you left."

"George, I hear you've been getting your act together these past couple of days." George gave his brother an odd look. "Ginny told me you opened the shop."

"I did, but it's not particularly busy at the moment."

"Don't worry, things will pick up; I'm just glad you're trying to sort your life out." Bill laughed.

"I'm doing my best, but it's not going to be easy. However, I did get asked out on a date just before I came over here."

"Really? I hope you said yes."

"I said no, I just don't think I can do a relationship right now. I mean Angelina only broke up with me a week ago, I just couldn't do it." George looked solemnly at his older brother.

"Was she ugly?" Bill laughed again.

"No she was absolutely gorgeous and well out of my league; basically she deserved a lot better than I could give her at the moment."

"She only asked for a date she didn't propose, I think you should reconsider."

"Enough about my love life, where is Fleur?" George said, wanting very much to change the subject.

"Emile is ill so she decided to stay at home with him and Sara."

"Right, now that nearly everyone is here we should sit down and begin to eat." Molly interrupted the discussions going on around the room.

"Shouldn't we wait for Ron and Hermione?" Percy looked around the room.

"There are on their way, I don't think we have to worry about Ron anyway. The way he eats, I'm sure he'll catch up with us." Ginny took her seat by Harry as the rest also found a place on the recently extended dining table. With the Weasley clan slowly growing, as her children married of and began their own families, Molly decided to add an extra bit to the table. It wasn't long before Ron and a very pregnant Hermione walked through the front door. Hermione became pregnant almost immediately after she and Ron got married; she was now eight months along. Ron had been getting more and more nervous as the birth was getting closer. He had been reading tons of books to prepare him for fatherhood, but nothing seemed to calm the nervous.

"Right," Harry stood up, much to the confusion of everyone else. "Now that everyone is here I would like to make an announcement. Last night I asked Ginny to marry me and she said yes." He looked down to his beaming fiancée as the rest of the room began to congratulate them. "I would like to make a toast to Ginny and our future together.

"As we are making announcements I would like to make them." As if they were watching a tennis match, the whole room moved their attention to the other side of the table where Hermione was stood.

"Since the end of the war Minerva has been trying to get Hogwarts up and running again. She has finally got the resources to do so and I will be taking up position as the head of Gryffindor. My lovely husband will be joining me there with our new baby."

"Your lovely husband, are we talking about the same person?" Charlie made the whole room laugh with his comment. "Well I would like to raise a glass to the Weasley family, who are going in the right direction. The room joined in raising their glasses and for the first time the Weasley family was mostly happy.


	3. Money isn't everything, but it helps

Over the past week, George hadn't been able to stop thinking about the witch, who had come to his shop. She was different to the girls he would normally go for, like Angelina, who were very outspoken. Kaycee was different, she seemed very unsure of herself, but she always seemed happy; which would be good for him. He always managed to bring himself back to reality, when he thought how he treated Angelina; he couldn't do that to another girl again.

Despite his good intentions he had would go have lapses and become slightly depressive every so often. He'd had almost two good weeks, but thinking about Kaycee made him seem like a bit of a failure and he'd begun drinking again. After a couple of hours he was now completely plastered, which lead him to his next decision. He took a piece of blank parchment and began writing a letter to Kaycee, asking her to go on a date with him. Once the letter was written he attached it to, his new owl, Harold.

"Right Harold, don't bugger this up; my whole life may depend on it." He said, drunkenly fumbling at the owl's leg; the owl hooted as George tugged on his leg. "Stop moving I can't get it on." The owl shook his head, as George finally managed to get the note attached to the leg. As the owl left through the open window George located another bottle of fire whiskey, in the kitchen. It seemed like only moment later, in reality it was an hour, but George had fallen asleep, when the owl returned with a reply.

He nearly fell over the coffee table and took the owl off his perch, as he rushed to the window to get the piece of parchment. George's grin widened when he saw the big yes, scrawled across the middle of the parchment. "I'm sure you'll regret this, but hopefully it will be too late by then." George had organised to meet her at the weekend, for dinner. With a drunken smile on his face, George decided to go to bed, as he had a meeting with his accountant the following afternoon.

It seemed in the week George stopped drinking, his body had forgotten how to cope with it and so had his brain. His brain felt like it was being thrown around the inside of his head and it took all his strength to make it down to the shop.

Over at the burrow Molly was tidying up the kitchen, which was a complete mess after the evening's dinner. She had invited some of the old Order of the Phoenix around and it had been a very fun night, for all. While she was putting the first few plates away, she heard Arthur's heavy steps coming down the stairs. She didn't even look up to see him entering the kitchen; things had been a bit strained between them, since their argument a week ago. They hadn't had an argument since then, but then again, they hadn't really spoken to each other since then. When the children were around, Arthur and Molly pretended that everything was ok, but it was getting too much for Molly.

"I'm heading down to the Ministry; there is some paperwork I need to get done before the meeting this weekend." Arthur said, as he put his jacket on.

"I thought you were supposed to have today off, because you are going in to work on Saturday." Molly still hadn't turned to face her husband.

"Yes, but I thought it would be best for me to get myself prepared."

"Arthur, do you really have to go in to the office? I wanted us to spend some time together, see if we can sort this thing out."

"I'm sorry Molly, but maybe we can do this some other time." Molly had finally turned around to see Arthur, inches away from leaving the house.

"Arthur if you walk through that door, I am filling for divorce and you will never see me again."

"Seriously Molly, I'm only going in to work to prepare for a meeting. We can spend some time together another time."

"When was the time we actually spent any time together? I mean, actually spent some time together, not just sitting listening to the wireless together. We haven't spoken to each other properly in a whole year. I have tried my hardest to keep this marriage together, but you have done nothing. The ball is in your court now; it is up to you to save our marriage, I am fed up of doing all the work." Molly took one last look at Arthur and turned around again. She knew he would go to work, but she was tired of fighting and just let him go.

Molly kept putting away pots and pans, until she heard the crack of Arthur apparating in to London. Once she was confident nobody could see her, she leaned on the kitchen counter and began to sob. She was always the strong one, she was always making sure the family had everything they needed and now she needed the same. Her resilience was ebbing away, but her pride won't let her ask for help.

As Arthur made his way to his office, he took a moment to think about what he was doing to his marriage. He knew he was making a mess of things, but every time he was at home he was reminded that one of his sons had been killed. He wanted to stay at home and spend time with his wife, but he still couldn't bare living in it, with all those memories.

He could forget about everything at work, where he would just focus on the meeting about muggle initiatives at the weekend. They were heading in to muggle London to find ways of integrating muggles, witches and wizards in to a more cohesive society. The war had opened up the eyes of muggles to magic; they were now trying to join the two communities together. The ministry felt if they worked together, there would be less fear of the different.

The following day Hermione was getting herself ready, for a meeting with Minerva t discuss how the reopening of Hogwarts would work. Also joining them would be the heads of the other houses, Draco Malfoy, Hannah Abbott and Michael Corner. She was so excited about becoming a teacher, a job she'd always dreamed of.

"I can't believe we are going to be living at Hogwarts again." Ron had sat up in the bed and was watching Hermione get ready, with a smile on his face.

"What are you laughing at?" Hermione spoke to him through the mirror.

"I'm not laughing, I'm smiling; I'm smiling at you getting ready for your dream job."

"I can't believe I'm actually going to be a teacher, I'm going to be able to tell them what to do." Hermione climbed on to the bed and snuggled up next to Ron.

"I don't think you needed to be a teacher to tell people what to do." Hermione hit Ron on the arm, but he just laughed and kissed her on the lips. "Do you think they'd mind if you were a little late?" Ron began to kiss her on the neck.

"I don't think Minerva would like me to arrive late, because I was fooling around with you."

"You're not fooling around; you're keeping spending time with your husband." Ron Laughed.

"Maybe after the baby's born, it's not long now." Hermione slowly pushed herself off the bed and on to her feet. "I'll be back in a couple of hours." With that Hermione apparated to the three broomsticks, where they would hold their meeting; it seemed right to meet there. She arrived a few feet away from the front door; Hermione looked around briefly, before walking in. Minerva and Hannah were already sat in a corner, talking fervently. Their conversation stopped and they both smiled at her, when she took a seat around the table.

"Hermione, so nice to see you." Hannah stood and hugged her. "When are you due?"

"About two weeks now, it's getting really close." Hermione rubbed her large belly. "I can't wait to get this baby out of me; my back and feet hurt so much." She edged herself down on to the chair.

"You won't be saying that in the first couple of months, until you get used to it." Minerva gave a wry smile. "You won't be uncomfortable anymore, but you will be physically exhausted."

"Thank you for lifting my spirits." Hermione laughed.

"You have children?" Hannah asked with a look of surprise on her face.

"Yes I have a son and a daughter, who are all grown up; one lives in Australia and the other in Germany. I also have a husband, but his job means I am only able to see him every few months."

"How come you never told us about them?" Hannah continued.

"I don't really like to talk about my private life; I think it should be just that, private." A door banging indicated the arrival of Draco and Michael. "Right, if we are all here then it must be time to begin this meeting."

The meeting went on for several hours, longer than anyone had expected; the group planned everything from moving the common rooms to how houses would be mixed in class. Minerva wanted to make sure the divide between houses was not like it had been previously. All houses would be mixed in class and the tables at the dinner table would be organised by years. Students would still go to the common rooms in the same way they had before and the house points system would also work the same. After all the points were discussed it was down to Minerva to individually invite previous and new students back to the school.

In the upstairs office of his shop George had finally succumbed to a meeting with his accountant, something he'd being trying to avoid for weeks. George knew the shop was in trouble, but he somehow felt if he wasn't actually told it officially, then it didn't exist. He'd been doing that sort of thing for a while so he decided he would have to get the issue sorted as soon as possible.

"George, I really don't know why you didn't call me in sooner."

"Oh please Simon, I really don't need a lecture from you; I know we are in trouble, I just want to know how big the trouble is. I know I've been a complete dick recently and I really need your help to get me out of the mess I've made."

"Ok no lectures, but I want your promise that you won't just go back in to your destructive behaviour. I don't want to put in all this effort for you to ruin it all." Simon raised his eyebrows at George, who was sat on the other side of the desk.

"So how bad is it?" George leaned back in to his chair, not really wanting to know the answer of the question he just asked.

"Very bad George, really bad," Simon handed over some papers he'd prepared. "You are now three months behind on the mortgage, for the shop, and the suppliers are asking to be paid too. I have had a look at the shop's bank account and you could pay around two months of supplies, but you would have no funds left in the account."

"How much more can I pay with my savings?" George put his hands in his head, not able to believe he'd put himself in this situation.

"You could probably pay off one month's mortgage, but your next month's is due next week. The mortgage company have said, if you don't pay the three months by the end of this one, then they will take the shop until you can."

"So can we prioritise paying the mortgage and work out how we will pay the suppliers afterwards?"

"Yes of course, we have enough if you add all the funds together you have enough for two months. We will need to figure out how to raise the funds quickly, we can only hold off the suppliers for so long."

"Right, we both have to come up with some fund raising ideas; and once we get the shop back on top, you are getting a pay rise." George gave Simon a hug, before heading down to the shop. He needed a steady day's trade to get him back towards financial stability.


	4. Fred

George nervously whistled, as he checked his clothes out in the mirror, he always whistled when he was nervous. He was getting ready for his date, with Kaycee, and he wanted to show that he wasn't a complete mess of a man. George had decided to go with jeans, a t-shirt and a blazer; it was the perfect mix of smart casual, he thought. Despite being ready for the past twenty minutes, he couldn't bring himself to leave the flat yet. It wasn't until he saw the clock, in the living room, that he realised he was very close to being late. George took one last look at himself in the mirror and apparated, to the street outside Kaycee's apartment.

It wasn't the type of neighbourhood he'd expected Kaycee to live in; it was run down, with several of the houses boarded up. The street was dimly lit, by lamps on either side of the road, several of them were broken or vandalised. George walked up the path, leading the way to Kaycee's front door, which was all broken up with weeds. The door its self didn't look to hot either, with most of the paint worn off, he found an ok patch and knocked on it.

"Just coming," came the reply, from somewhere on the other side the door. George looked down at his shoes and noticed a lump of mud, stuck to the toe. He flicked it off, but was still left with a stain on the black leather. George licked his finger and began to rub frantically, when he heard a click of the front door opening.

"Oh hi, I was just getting something off my shoe." George blushed, as he stood up.

"Don't worry, sorry I took so long, I was just finding my handbag."

"No worries," George smiled. "You look really nice, by the way."

"Thank you, erm you don't mind if we head off right now? It's just I'm redecorating and the place is a complete mess." Kaycee closed the door behind her, making sure George couldn't see inside.

"Would you like to apparate to the restaurant, or would you like to walk. It's only just around the corner, so it wouldn't be very far to walk."

"I wouldn't mind walking; maybe we could get to know each other better." Kaycee began to lead the way, while George followed. The pair walked to the end of the street and in to the centre of London, talking to each other fervently, along the way.

"So what brought you to London?" Fred asked.

"I came down, after I finished school, in the hope I could find a better job, than I could at home. I come from a very small village in Cornwall and there really aren't fantastic job prospects there."

"Did you find the job you wanted then?"

"Not really, I managed to get a job as a waitress on the other side of the city; it's getting pretty difficult to get a good job these days. Even though I didn't get the job I wanted, it's easier her to look for others while I'm here. I am keeping my hopes up though."

"That's good of you; I wish I had the same enthusiasm sometimes. Ever since my brother died I haven't been able to get myself together and function like a normal human being. I shouldn't be telling you these sorts of things on a first date, this is at least fifth date material, if we manage to get that far."

"Don't worry," Kaycee gave a shy smile. "When did it happen, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was a year ago, in the war, but I just haven't been able to sort myself out ever since."

"I'm so sorry; it will get easier you know."

"Anyway, let's talk about something a little less depressing. What do you like to do in your free time?" George quickly changed the subject, while Kaycee laughed at his swiftness.

"Well, when I have the time, I really love to go ice skating. It has to be my favourite thing in the whole world. I used to do it when I was a kid, but these days I don't really get enough time; I always seem to be working. What do you like to do, when you're not in the shop?"

"I love to come up with new inventions, but I also love to play quidditch. I used to be on the house team at Hogwarts. I don't really play that much anymore, I haven't had the time to find a team."

"You went to Hogwarts? I wish I had gone there, it sounded so much better than Beauxbatons, where I used to go."

"Why did you go there when you're from Cornwall?" George looked confused.

"My dad didn't want me to go to a mixed school; he thought it was bad to mingle with boys, at such a young age." It wasn't long before they arrived at the restaurant, which was a small bistro on the corner of a busy street. There were a lot of people in this evening, so it was lucky George had booked a table, for them. The bistro was small, but not too claustrophobic, with small candles creating a nice atmosphere. This was the place to go for witches on this side of London; its discrete location meant that not too many muggles came in. Once at the door, a waiter guided them to their seat and handed them both menus.

"Can I take your drinks order?" He took a small notepad and pen, from his apron.

"Could I have a glass of white wine?" Kaycee ordered first, only after George had nudged her to do so.

"I would like a beer please." The waiter walked off, leaving George and Kaycee on their own again. However, before they could start talking again, the waiter returned with a piece of parchment in his hand.

"This has just come for you sir," he handed it over, before walking away again. George opened the note, after a quick glance to Kaycee, and read its contents.

"_George, you need to come to St Mungo's right now, Hermione is giving birth. Ron."_

"I am so sorry Kaycee, but I have to go to St Mungo's; my brother's wife is giving birth to their first child. The family would kill me if I didn't turn up; we will have to reorganise this for some time."

"I can come with you if you like; we don't have to end the date, just change the location."

"You don't mind having our date in the hospital?" George looked curiously at her. "You will have to talk to my family and stuff."

"I don't mind at all, your family sound great; I love how tight nit you guys are, I wish my family were like that"

"You may not think they're that great, once my mother begins to give you the Spanish inquisition." George apologised to the waiter for leaving the restaurant, but he didn't feel too bad about it, they would probably fill it soon enough. They didn't have enough time to walk to St Mungo's, so the pair apparated just around the corner and ran in to reception. Once they had established where the maternity ward was, they sped to find the Weasleys, excitedly waiting for the new arrival. Ginny was sitting chatting away to Fleur, while Bill, Percy, Harry and Charlie were talking away in the corner of the waiting room.

"Ah George you got Ron's message?"

"Yeah how long as she been in labour?" George hugged his brothers and sister.

"A few of hours, she didn't realise until quite late." Ginny spoke up. "She thought they were those false contractions."

"Where is mum?" George looked around the waiting room, he'd expected Molly to be the first to arrive at the hospital; knowing his mum she would have been here, even before Hermione.

"She's gone to get dad, he should be on his way." Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Now who is this you've brought along with you?"

"Oh I'm sorry, with all the confusion I forgot to introduce you." He turned to face Kaycee. "This is Kaycee, she came in to the shop not too long ago and we were on a date, until I got the message from Ron." George introduced her to the whole family, hoping that none of them would try to embarrass him on their first date. Once the formalities were done with, they found their own little corner to continue their date. There was a lot of tension in the waiting room as many families were waiting for their new additions. Small talk was occasionally interrupted by yelps of pain for the labour wards, but nothing out of the ordinary. George could just imagine how stressed his brother Ron was, while Hermione was giving birth. Ron would panic about doing essays in school, but he was probably going crazy with stress. Knowing Hermione she was probably perfectly calm and taking the whole process in her stride, she would have to be the one keeping Ron calm.

Over at the Ministry of Magic, molly had managed to force her way in and had arrived at Arthur's office.

"Arthur Weasley, you better leave your desk right now and get to St Mungo's, or I will beat you hear to kingdom come." Molly marched over and put her hands on his desk. "Come on; put that work away right now."

"I just need to sign two more documents and I am on my way" Arthur glanced up at Molly.

"Oh no you don't, you sign another thing and we are getting a divorce." Arthur was so shocked by Molly's comment, that he dropped his pen immediately. "You know, I'm beginning to think you don't love me anymore." Molly stomped off, with Arthur in tow.

"It isn't that Molly, I do love you, I do so very much. It's difficult to explain, but I will make it up to you, I promise." Arthur had just realised what he had been doing to his marriage recently, and it worried him greatly.

"I don't have time to listen to your worthless excuses, we don't have enough time."

"Enough time for what?"

"You're son is about to have his first son, and you're about to miss it!" Molly dragged Arthur down the hallway.

"What?"

"Hermione is in labour."

"Why did no one tell me?" They walked out through the front entrance.

"You were sent an owl, but apparently you didn't read it." Molly stopped and put her hands on her hips.

"I was going to read it, but I was trying to get my work done, as quickly as possible."

"It doesn't matter; we need to apparate to St Mungo's, NOW!" They rushed to the maternity ward, just as Ron was coming out of the labour room. His face was completely white and he looked like he might collapse at any moment. Through all of this, the look of joy on his face was visible, he had become a father for the first time and it was the best thing ever.

"It's a boy!" His grin widened even further, which hadn't seemed possible before.

"Congratulations!" Charlie walked over to his brother and gave him a huge hug. Ron was completely oblivious to the tight hugs he was getting, from each member of his family. Once they had all congratulated him, they made their way in, to see the new addition to the Weasley family. Hermione looked tired, but enormously happy as she held her baby boy in her arms. He had Hermione's freckles, but he most certainly had the Weasley hair.

"So is there a name yet?" Molly asked, stroking her grandson's cheek.

"I think we've agreed on Fred," Hermione looked in to Ron's eyes. The room stilled at the mention of Fred's name, but smiles began to break again, soon enough.

"That's a wonderful name." Molly beamed.


	5. If only we could stop being interrupted

George was stood, pouring himself a glass of fire whiskey, in the kitchen of his flat smiling to himself. For the first time, in a very long time, he had someone to join him in drinking the fire whiskey; Kaycee was sat in the living room, waiting for him. It had been far too long since he had just hung out with someone and he was enjoying Kaycee's company. It had been a couple of days since they left the hospital, where Hermione had given birth to her son Fred.

"Right, I thought we would have a little celebratory drink." George handed Kaycee one of the glasses in his hand.

"What are we celebrating?" Kaycee laughed

"That we'd actually had a date, without any interruptions from my family." He plonked himself down on the couch.

"I suppose that is a reason to celebrate, they say third time's a charm." George and Kaycee had tried to go on a date the day after Fred's birth, but it hadn't worked out. Molly had demanded the entire family be at Ron's flat, when Hermione arrived home with the baby. They had been taking a romantic picnic in the parc, but they'd had to pack it up once they received notice from Molly. In the end, they had given up on going anywhere so they decided to have the picnic in George's flat, this evening.

"If my family keep interrupting me, we might have to leave the country to go on an actual date." George grinned as he took a sip of the fire whiskey.

"I wish my family was so close, I moved out of home as soon as I was of age and I barely see my parents these days. I only ever really see them when we have the usual gatherings, but other than that it's work and the flat."

"How long have you been in your waitressing job?" George turned to look Kaycee right in the eye.

"Not long, probably around six months; I don't intend on being there too long. I want a job that gives me a little more satisfaction; I love to write so I would love to be an author or something like that." Kaycee shuffled along the couch and closer to George.

"Well I'll keep my fingers crossed for you." George's breath slowed at the closeness of Kaycee's body to his. "So er, do you like the fire whiskey?" George was becoming nervous.

"Yeah it's lovely." Kaycee slid her hand on the George's thigh and leaned in to kiss him. George was still for a moment, before he built up the courage to kiss Kaycee back. When the pair kissed, it was like a bomb had gone off as their hands roamed each other. A small groan left George's lips, as Kaycee pushed moved to straddle him. As soon as their moment of passion started, it was interrupted by the hoot of an owl on the windowsill.

"If that's my family I'm going to scream." George made his way to the window, while Kaycee giggled at his reaction. "It's for you." He said handing her the piece of parchment, with her name on it. Kaycee quickly glanced over the parchment, before crumpling it up and shoving it in her pocket.

"I'm so sorry, but I have to go." Kaycee stood up.

"What is it?"

"It's my neighbour. She says someone broke in to her house and she needs someone to help." Kaycee said, as she put her coat on.

"Does she need any help?" George offered.

"I think she just needs someone to comfort her, but thanks for the offer."

"I'm sorry we were cut short." George leaned and kissed Kaycee hard, before she moved to walk out the door. "Kaycee." He called after her. "Would you like to come to the baby shower, next week?"

"Yeah, I'd love to." She smiled and walked down the hall. After leaving George's flat, Kaycee didn't make her way towards her neighbour's, as she had just told George. She walked to a dark pub, where a well dressed man was sat in the corner; Kaycee made her way over and sat opposite him.

"Would you like a drink?" The man asked.

"No I'm fine, why did you send me that note, I was with George."

"How are things going with George, are they progressing?"

"They're coming along, but you haven't helped. We were on a date, but I can't get anywhere if I keep being interrupted." Kaycee was shifting around; she wanted to get going as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry, but I really need you to get going on this project. You need to turn it up a little, because I am getting heat from the boss now." The man looked a little uncomfortable.

"So how much sooner are we talking about exactly?"

"We need it done by the end of the month."

"That's only three weeks!" Kaycee sounded very surprised by the news.

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do about it; the boss is really putting the pressure on."

"Right well, if that is all you need to tell me I am going to head home get some sleep." Kaycee stood up and left, after the brief meeting. On her way home she couldn't help but think about George and what they were about to do. In a way she was glad the owl had arrived, to stop her from going too far; she was never normally like that so early on in a relationship. When Kaycee was with George she lost control of herself, it had taken all her effort not to jump on him straight away. She got back to her flat, which had almost no furniture in it, and collapsed on the mattress, where her bed should be. Kaycee wished she could afford a better placed to live, but she would have to wait for this project to go through before she could.

A frantic Ron was currently running around his flat, trying to find some nappies. Hermione had left him to look after Fred for the morning; she was getting food for the baby shower, this afternoon. Fred was crying, as he waited for his father to change his nappy; Ron couldn't remember where Hermione said they were.

"I'm coming Fred." Ron shouted across the flat, before finding the nappies in the bathroom cupboard. Once the nappies had been found, he changed Fred and the house was calm once again. Ron looked at his week old son, who was lying in his arms, he couldn't believe that this boy way actually his. He couldn't believe that one day he and Hermione would make such a beautiful little boy. If he was to go back and tell his fifteen-year-old self and say that he would eventually be married to Hermione with a son, he would have laughed in his own face. The morning went quick and it wasn't long before Hermione arrive back with the baby shower food. She walked through the front door, to find Ron asleep on the couch with Fred in his arms.

"Was it all a bit too much for you, baby?" Hermione giggled, as she kissed Ron on the lips.

"Oh Hermione, you're back; I didn't hear you come in." Ron rubbed his eyes.

"I know, you two were passed out on the couch. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen, you suit being a dad." Hermione put the food down and sat next to Ron, putting her head on his shoulder. "I can't believe we're parents now." Hermione stroked the baby's face.

"We're going to be the best parents ever." Ron kissed his wife. "But before that, we should get this place set up before the family arrives."

"This is going to be pure chaos; we've never had both our families in here." Ron laughed, as he went to put Fred back in his cot. The Weasleys and Grangers would be at the house in two hours, so there was a lot of work to do.

Across London George was waiting for Kaycee to arrive at his flat, before the headed to Ron's flat. Kaycee had insisted they would meet up at George's flat, as her flat was still being done up, which is what she told George. So he had got ready and was now watching the clock until she arrived. George and Kaycee had gone on another two dates since they were so cruelly interrupted. Things were moving pretty quickly, but George liked it, she was bringing himself back to his original self. Eventually a knock on the door indicated that Kaycee had finally arrived, and George made his way to the door.

"Better late than never." George grinned, as he pulled Kaycee towards him.

"I wanted to make sure I looked good for your family."

"You look perfect." He pulled her in, yet closer, before kissing her hard on the lips. The pair moved through the open flat door, Kaycee kicked it closed, as they edged closer to the couch.

"What time do we have to be at your brother's place?" Kaycee asked.

"Not for another half an hour."

"Would you like to take this in to your bedroom?" Kaycee began to take some of her clothes off.

"I most certainly would." Their lips met again and they walked over to George's room. "Bloody hell, we're late. Mum is going to kill me!" George said 45 minutes later.

"Woops, we must have got a little carried away." Kaycee laughed.

"We'll have to make up some sort of excuse when we get there." George and Kaycee hurriedly got dressed, before they apparated to Ron and Hermione's flat. Once at the entrance to building they tried to sneak in without being noticed.

"Where on earth have you been?" Mission to be unnoticed failed, as Molly stomped over to her son.

"Sorry we're late; we got caught up with something." George stuttered his response.

"We'll you are here now, just in time for handing out the presents." Molly moved away.

"Come sit over with us Kaycee." Ginny waved towards them; George went to sit with his brothers.

"So how what were you two up to, to be so late?" His oldest brother Bill asked. "Mum was going mad."

"We got a little sidetracked with things." George gave a shy grin.

"Just be careful bro, don't go in to this too quickly. You don't want to get yourself hurt; it's not been that long since you broke up with Angelina." George didn't have time to respond to his brother's comment, before the present giving began. Presents ranged from toys for the baby to a spa day/ quidditch tickets for Ron and Hermione. Everybody was taking it in turns to hold the youngest Weasley in their arms and getting to know their new relative. Hermione's parent's had got used to these gatherings of witches and wizards and didn't seem fazed by some of the various magical toys. When Ron and Hermione first got married they would regularly get overwhelmed by the magic, but now it all seemed normal to them.

In the hallway Arthur and Molly were deep in discussion, they had been arguing for months now and it was getting more regular.

"Molly, I can't do this anymore. I can't argue with you any longer we really need to put an end to this." Arthur had a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I know, it's getting too much for me as well." Molly was openly crying now.

"I have been considering this for a while, but I really think now is the right time."

"Well whatever you want to do."

"I think we should sell the burrow and move to a smaller place." Arthur said to a surprised Molly.

"You really think we should do that, you don't want to divorce me?"

"Never Molly, I love you far too much; you are my soul mate and I don't think I could ever live without you." Arthur kissed away Molly's tears. "I have handed in my notice at the ministry, so I can find a job where we can spend more time together."

"I would love to do that, but we're going to have to tell the children that the Burrow will be sold." Molly hugged her husband tightly, he loved her after all and he was prepared to make big changes to save their marriage. "Arthur, I love you."

"I love you too Molly." Their hands entwined around each other's and walked in to the kitchen, where Hermione was stood with Ginny and Kaycee.

"I hope everyone is being nice to you, and Ginny isn't asking you too many questions."

"Mum, we are being perfectly nice." Ginny spoke in mock surprise.

In the living room the male members of the family were deep in quidditch conversation, about the impending cup final.

"Right guys I'm going to take a walk, I just need some air." George stood up and walked towards the door. "If Kaycee asks, tell her I'll be back in about 30 minutes." He walked out the front door and immediately apparated. His destination was the graveyard where Fred had been buried; he hadn't been there since Fred's funeral. He had purposely had avoided the cemetery, over the past year, but his time with Kaycee had helped him through some of his daemons. George walked passed many headstones, until he reached the one inscribed with 'Fred Weasley'.

"Hello Fred, how are you doing today?" George felt a little weird talking to a headstone, but he missed his brother. "You know we are having a baby shower for Ron and Hermione. They got married after the war and now they have a little baby boy, they called him Fred too. I bet you're loving that up there." George laughed. George decided to sit down next to the grave and placed some flowers down, he had bought at the entrance.

"I've got a girlfriend now too. I was going out with Angelina, but we broke up because I was a bit of an idiot. I'm now going out with this beautiful woman called Kaycee, who is well out of my league; you wouldn't believe how pretty he is. Fred, I miss you so much, I wish you were still here. The shop is going down the toilet, because I just can't do it without you." George began to cry, he stayed by the graveside until it was time for him to return back to Ron's flat.


	6. Save Weasley's Wzard Wheezes

George's head was stuck in the clouds, as he walked towards the shop entrance, as things were going very well with Kaycee. They had now been going out for almost a month now and things were beginning to get serious. The grin on his face was so big, as he opened the front door, you would have thought it was painted on.

Things in the shop were beginning to pick also, he had now managed to get it open five days a week. However, his only other employee had left and George wasn't surprised; he had barely had any working hours since George had his meltdown. At the moment it was all up to George to keep the shop going and drum up business again.

"Alf, how are you?" Alf, who owned the building the shop was in, had just walked through the front door.

"Well George, I've been better." Alf had a grim look on his face.

"Do I need to sit down?" George knew what this was about and he could feel his heart pounding.

"I think you'd better had." Alf joined George on a pair of stools, in the middle of the shop. "I know things have been tough for you, but it has been five months since you last paid me some rent. My bank manager is on my back and I really need the money. I am going to be nice and waive the interest, I would normally charge for late payment, but I need the money by the end of the month."

"The end of the month?" George sat motionless, mouth open wide. "I've had barely any takings recently; I don't even think I have enough money to pay one month's rent."

"Well I'm sorry, but you'll need to find it somehow. If you can't get the money to me I'm going to have to put the building out to tender." Alf looked apologetic, but George knew he'd been backed in to a corner.

"Can we say three month's rent by the end of the month and I can pay the rest next month? The end of the month is only a couple of weeks away."

"Ok three month's rent, but you have to promise me that you will have the rest in by the end of next month." Alf looked George in the eye, as he stood up.

"You will not regret it, I promise you Alf." George shook his hand firmly. George watched as Alf walked out through the door, before springing in to action. His heart leapt with joy each time a customer came in, because he knew how important each piece of business was now. "Make sure you tell your friends and family to come here." He would say to all of them. Eventually it was time to close up and he apparated over to Bill's, where he was going to have a poker night with his brothers. Poker was a muggle card game, which Charlie had learned while he was away, and they had decided to play it every Friday.

"Georgie boy, glad you've finally decided to join us." Bill smiled, as he opened his front door.

"Sorry, I got caught up at the shop."

"Since when did you ever get caught up at the shop, I thought you always tried to get away as quickly as possible."

"Well since the landlord came around this morning and told me, that if I don't find three month's rent, he will chuck me out and the shop will be defunct." George gave a wry smile, as he sat down with the rest of his brothers. "So now I have to find nine thousand galleons in two weeks."

"Bloody hell!" Ron nearly spat his beer out. "How does he expect you to find that?"

"Well, he was actually being nice; I own five months, but he is giving me an extra month to find the rest of the money."

"So what are you going to do?" Charlie joined in the conversation.

"I'm going to have to do some major advertising and work seven days a week."

"I'm sure we can lend a hand." Ron offered.

"Let's not talk about it, I want to enjoy this evening. Now Charlie, how on earth do you play this poker game?" George looked curiously at the cards, which he had never seen before. The four men sat around the table and the second oldest began to explain the rules of the game they were about to play. However, after five hours most of the rules had gone out the window as the four got increasingly drunk.

"Erm go fish." Bill said, staring in confusion at his cards.

"I think you got the wrong game bro." George launched himself in to a fit of giggles. "I think you need to match those women to the ones on the table." He pointed at the two Queens in his brother's hand and the two on the table. "I think that means you win."

"Get in! I think Fleur might be getting some new shoes." He slid the money on the table over towards him. "Right I think I've reached my peak and it might be time to go home."

"Spoil sport!" Ron slurred, as he stumbled out of the kitchen.

"Come on lads, let's leave grandpa to his early night." Charlie began to put his coat on. "He needs his beauty sleep anyway."

"Oh seriously, get a haircut." Bill retaliated.

"Oooh, are we back at Hogwarts now?" George stumbled out the door. Slow but surely the other three Weasleys made their way out of Bill's house and apparated to their respective homes. George slept pretty peacefully, forgetting about the challenge he had coming up against him. The ultimatum from Alf caused George to get up at six in the morning, to make sure the shop was opened nice and early. He was busy putting out some new toys and tricks, when Kaycee walked through the front door.

"I was hoping you would be here early, I wanted to see you before I went to work."

"You're lucky then, this is the earliest I've been in here for months." George leant in a kissed her.

"I missed you yesterday, how was your poker night?"

"It was nice just to hang out with my brothers, but I wished I hadn't had so many beers." He rubbed his forehead, which was pretty sore.

"Oh poor baby, why did you come in so early with a hangover?"

"Well the landlord came over yesterday, and told me that if I don't find three months rent by the end of the month, then he will give the shop to someone else." George said almost dismissively, like if he didn't say it properly, it wasn't happening.

"Where are you going to find that sort of money?" Kaycee looked concerned.

"I have no clue, and in two weeks I am going to be out on my arse." He couldn't keep up his happy facade any longer. "I can't believe I'm going to have to close the shop."

"Who said you would have to close the shop?"

"Where will I find nine thousand galleons in two weeks?"

"Right I am going to send an owl to work, and then I can help you. I have a few ideas that might be able get in some money."

"You'd really do that?"

"Of course, just give me some time."

"You are brilliant." George leaned in to kiss Kaycee, moving her so she was sat up on the counter.

"Hold on there love birds." Ron interrupted before they could forget where they actually where. "I have come to help."

"Shouldn't you be at work?" George stared at his brother.

"I quit so I could come here and help you."

"Hermione is going to kill you."

"My job was a complete bore and I can't see, the first ever Weasley business, get closed down. So I have come to help you raise this money and maybe even become a partner in the business."

"You just want free games."

"Well I thought that might be a perk." Ron laughed. Kaycee gave George a quick kiss and told him she would be back with something to help him out. George could believe that his brother had quit his job to come and help him. He almost wanted to cry, but he would never live that down if Ron ever caught him crying. Ron and George started by tidying up the shop, which had become slightly run down after the past few months. There were a few customers here and there, but nowhere near the amount George needed to keep the shop afloat. Two hours had passed when Kaycee finally returned, with a handful of small pieces of parchment. The grin on her face told George that she came with good news.

"So I've been a bit busy and I think I've got something that might help a little bit." She put down the pieces of parchment on the counter. "I thought we could start a little "Save Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" campaign, so I put together some leaflets. Everybody knows what the Weasleys did to help during the war so I thought that they might be willing to help you, if they knew the shop was in trouble. I went to the prophet and they said they would do a little article for the next issue."

"How did you manage that?" George said in astonishment.

"I have a friend, who works there, and they owe me a favour; so they said they would do it for me. It's not much, but I thought it might get something going."

"What do you mean it's not much? It's absolutely wonderful!" George embraced her with a large grin on his face. "With you two here to help, we might be able to get somewhere."

"Oh yeah, I spoke to mum and she said she would get the family to chip in when you needed some rest." Ron added.

"We might be able to get this done." George's face was beginning to hurt with all the smiling he was doing. Kaycee grabbed a few of the leaflets and began to stick them to the window, before making her way down Diagon Alley to hand them out to the public. Slowly she managed to draw a crowd, as she explained to people what they were trying to do. Some people didn't seem particularly interested, but a growing number said they would head to the shop immediately.

"My grandson raves about that place; he would be devastated if it closed." One old lady said.

"Their tricks and potions got me out of so much trouble in school." A man said, as he scanned the poster. Towards the end of the day, Kaycee's one woman mission began to show as the shop began to fill. It was eight in the evening, by the time George closed the shop and the trio were absolutely knackered.

"We took five hundred galleons today, but we need more than that if we want to raise all the money." George sifted through the day's takings.

"Maybe you could come up with a new trick or game; that might bring in the customers." Ron leaned against the counter.

"That takes ages, it has to be developed and tested." George replied.

"What about the ones you were working on, before the war; I'm sure they could be polished off pretty quickly."

"Maybe, we'll have to see."

"I need to go home; I have to go in to work early after taking the day off. I will see you tomorrow evening." She kissed George, before leaving them to lock up. Kaycee was slowly becoming torn between her feelings for George and the project she'd been given by her boss. She couldn't believe she'd fallen for him; that was the one thing her boss had told her not to do. Walking in to her desolate flat made her realise what it was that kept her from packing this whole thing in. The paint was falling off the walls in the kitchen and her bedroom had little to show it actually was a bedroom. She had a thin mattress in the corner of the room and an oil lamp next to it, as she couldn't afford anything more. Lying to George hurt her, but she couldn't tell him why she had really appeared in his life. Kaycee knew it would come out eventually, but for now she had to carry on with her project and hope George wouldn't be too angry when it came to light. This project would mean a proper paid job and perhaps a bed to sleep in; Kaycee fell in to a slumber quickly, exhausted from the day.

"I don't even know where to start." Ginny was staring at loads of wedding magazines, in her living room the following day, accompanied by Hermione.

"Well perhaps we should think about where and when you want it." Hermione began to flick through one of the magazines, which were spread across the table.

"Harry said he would like it to be in the summer, because it was always the worst time of year for him. He wants to give the summer a happy memory; I was thinking maybe August, so there is less chance of rain. I also thought it would be nice to get married in the church where Fred was buried. I miss him so much and I want him to be there when we get married."

"That sounds lovely." Hermione could see a small tear beginning to form in Ginny's eye. "Have you thought about the dress you want?"

"I want something elegant, I don't want anything too flashy; we'll have more important things to spend money on once we're married. I want to save up so our children have the best support behind them. I don't want to be like my parents, working around the clock to make sure we have enough food to survive and having to scrimp and save to make sure we had clothes for school."

"You don't plan on having as many children as your mum did?"

"Lord no, I think I would go mad after having seven children." Ginny laughed. "Speaking of mum she said we need to go to the burrow today, because she has some sort of big announcement."

"There have been quite a few big announcements recently, I'm getting tired out." Hermione smiled.

"Maybe we should leave the wedding planning for now and head over there."

"You know you're going to have to start planning eventually." Hermione said, as they stood up to leave.

"I know, but there is so much to plan and it's a bit scary."

"I know, but you have me to help you; if I managed to arrange a wedding and get Ron to arrive on time, then you can certainly manage to plan this wedding."

"We can do some tomorrow." Ginny grabbed Hermione and they apparated to the burrow. They weren't the first of the Weasleys to arrive, but it was a little while longer before George and Percy arrived. Percy had with him his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater, who he had bumped in to a couple of months ago, and they rekindled their relationship. Since the end of the war Percy had calmed down and had become much more level headed, and less of the career climber he had previously been.

"Right now that you are all here, your mother and I have some very important news." Arthur stood at the head of the table, with his family watching on eagerly. "I know it is going to upset you a bit, but it has to be done."

"You're not getting divorced are you?" Ginny blurted out, she'd heard them arguing a few weeks ago.

"No dear we're not." Molly smiled.

"We are going to sell the burrow." Arthur announced to stunned silence. "Now that you have all moved out, your mother and I thought it would be best to move to a smaller place. I am leaving my job at the ministry and we are going to make a new life for ourselves in the north of England. We wanted to spend more time together, and we thought this was the best way to do it."

"Do you have a place bought yet?" Percy asked.

"Not yet; there is a very nice cottage, just outside of York, which we have been enquiring about. We will have a big dinner before we leave so that everyone can say goodbye to the house." All the Weasleys spent the rest of the day at the burrow, finding it hard to believe that the family wouldn't own this house for much longer. Bill, who had lived in this house the longest, sat in the garden staring up at the cobbled together upper floors, which were held on by nothing but magic.

"Fleur, what would you think about living in the Burrow?" He turned to his wife, who had just joined him on the grass.

"I think the children would love the space, our house is getting too small for the family. We might have to redecorate though." Fleur knew what was going on inside Bill's head.

"I am so glad you said that." He kissed her on the lips, before going to find his parents.

"Mum, I need to talk to you about something." Molly was cleaning in the kitchen. "I would like to buy the house off you."

"What?" She looked confused.

"I don't want to see the burrow eave the family and Fleur would like a bigger place. It just seems like the perfect swap; I can't guarantee Fleur will keep it the same as it is now, but it means it stays in the family."

"I would love you to buy the house." Molly hugged her son.


	7. An Old Romance can Learn new Tricks

Harry rubbed his hands against his trouser leg, his hands were sweating profusely, as he walked to the board room in the Ministry of Magic. There was to be a meeting of the most important wizards in the Ministry and Kingsley Shacklebolt was about to name him successor and Harry had been told he was going to get the position. Anybody who had a chance had been sucking up to Kingsley, in the months prior; Harry was ashamed to admit, but he had developed a wanting for this job. He wanted to make the magical world a better place than it had been before and during the war. He didn't want the Ministry to be run by some power hungry wizard, like it had been before.

As he walked in to the room, he could see all the eyes looking at him. Everyone knew he had been good friends with Kingsley, so he knew they would think it was favouritism it was announced he had the job.

"Right now that everybody is here." Kingsley began, as Harry took his seat around the table. "You all know we are here for me to announce my successor, but before I do that I would like to talk to you all first. I want to tell everybody what I expect from my successor and that this job is about making the magical world a better place. You also need to co-ordinate with the muggle world and potentially move towards bringing our two communities together. Now I would like you all to congratulate your new Minister for Magic, Harry potter." Everyone stood up as Harry walked to the front of the room.

"What a surprise, everyone's favourite wizard." Harry heard someone say as he walked passed; it wasn't enough to damage the joy of this moment. Now it was finally announced he could actually tell his family, he'd been sworn to secrecy about the whole thing. Harry stood staring back at the eyes, which were fixated on him, for a moment before he began talking.

"First of all I'd like to thank you all for that war reception and I hope you'll all still be happy to see me, in a few months time." There was a small laugh, which rippled around the room. "This is only going to be a brief talk, as I know you all have things to be getting back to. I just want to tell you all how excited I am to be the new Minister for Magic and I believe I can continue Kingsley's good work. I hope that we can all work together to make this the best time to be a wizard.

"Arthur please be careful with that, it's a Prewett family air loom and if you drop it; well I don't know what I'd do." Molly said, as Arthur tried to move a large vase.

"Don't worry dear, safe hands me." Arthur smiled, as the vase nearly slipped from his hands. Molly gave a wry smile after a she regained her composure.

"Safe hands, yeah right." She laughed.

"Says you the one who dropped an entire bowl of pudding, on the floor." Arthur gave a cheeky grin; only after he'd safely put the vase down in a box.

"We're going there are we Weasley." She took a step towards him and put her hands on her hips. "I don't think you have a leg to stand on."

"Well you know, I think you have that problem when you've had a few fire whiskeys." Arthur was becoming brave. "I remember just after we left Hogwarts and you tried to sit down on a chair that wasn't there." He began to chuckle to himself.

"If I don't remember it then it didn't happen." Molly crossed her arms.

"You were always such a lightweight." He laughed again. "You know I think Charlie has taken after you, I can hear him begin to slur his words after a few."

"He is a bit of a lightweight, isn't he? Oh dear I have walked in on some embarrassing things with that boy. It is a good job he is good with the ladies, because I don't think I could find him a wife otherwise." Molly smiled. It had been a long time since she had talked to her husband like this and she was really enjoying it. "I'm going to miss this house." She changed the subject.

"I will to, but at least Bill is going to buy the house off us. We will be able to visit it when we want, but I think it is about time we moved. The fresh start is what we need; we need to work on being a couple again. We've spent so long looking after the children and making sure they are doing well, we've forgotten to look after ourselves."

"Very profound of you, Arthur." Molly wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Well, it comes to me sometimes." He slowly leant in and kissed her softly. "I think you bring it out in me."

"I miss this; we will have to try harder to make sure we work on us."

"Most definitely." He pulled her in for another kiss.

"Oh get a room." George said, upon seeing his parents kissing in the living room. "I might be an adult, but I will never be old enough to see that." Molly and Arthur laughed at their sun.

"Oh get over it, we've seen you do it." Arthur made George blush.

"Oh Arthur, don't embarrass the boy." Molly hit him on the arm. It took most of the Weasleys, the majority of the week to sort out the burrow so that Molly and Arthur were ready to move. It broker Molly's heart to throw things away, but their new house wasn't be enough to fit it all. It would only be two days before they moved and Bill would move in. As usual Molly had planned a huge family meal and she wanted to make it one to remember.

Ron had been enjoying his time working at George's shop and had begun to actually look forward to going to work. Things had begun to pick up, especially with Kaycee's publicity drive, but they needed to find some more money from somewhere. It was only a week until the deadline and they weren't even half way towards their target. Ron rubbed his eyes, he wasn't getting much sleep after Fred's arrival, and as he moved his hand away he saw Kaycee walking sitting with a man outside a cafe.

His pace slowed as he tried to see if he recognised the guy she was sitting opposite; whoever he was they were deep in conversation. Curiosity getting the better of him Ron decided to walk around a corner, directing him away from the shop, and had a better look at the man. Just as the man looked up and noticed he was being stared at Ron realised it was Greg Thurkell, the newest editor of the Daily Prophet.

He decided it wasn't a good idea to stay outside the cafe for any longer and quickly made his way to the shop.

"Morning Ron, nice to see you on time." George said, looking at the clock above the front door.

"Sorry, I got caught up in something." Ron place his coat under the counter.

"I have been working hard last night and I've come up with a few more tricks." George picked up a box full of jars.

"Oh let me see." Ron always got excited when George came up with new things.

"Right so this first one lets your fall asleep with your eyes open, I need to work on the snoring bit though. This other one is for babies; you press this left hand side and butterflies float above the baby and help them go to sleep."

"I think I might take that one, see if Fred sleeps more."

"I thought you might like it; in fact I had you and Hermione in mind when I made this one."

"I'm hoping if I can come up with a couple more things this weekend I can advertise them and see if it can bring some more business in. These ones aren't really much, but I might be able to persuade people to add them to their shopping."

"George you are doing a great job, I'm so glad you've really taken to it."

"It is my fault I'm in this mess in the first place; I just hope I can get out of it."

"You really can't blame yourself for this; nobody can blame you for letting it go a bit." Ron put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "To be honest I think we all let everything go a little, it's just you were the only one running your own business."

"I know, but I have just made things worse for me."

"George, you go to the back of the shop and get yourself a cup of tea. I will put these new things out and make sure everything is ready for the first customers." George merely nodded and walked off to the back of the shop. Just as he did Kaycee walked through the front door; she was greeted by a suspicious look from Ron.

"Where is George off to?" She chose to ignore the look.

"He has gone to get himself a cup of tea, he was getting in to a little stress about the shop situation."

"I'm not surprised, I would probably be crying about now."

"Why were you having coffee with the Prophet editor this morning?" Ron suddenly blurted out, not able to hold it in any longer.

"What."

"I saw you having coffee with the Prophet editor just before, as I was walking to the shop."

"He is an old friend off my dad's and he wanted to see how I was doing in London." Kaycee said easily, as if it were almost true.

"So you have nothing to do with the story he has been trying to get, since the end of the war."

"What, I don't know anything about that."

"Fine, it's just he has been hounding my family for a year now. He wouldn't leave us alone, even when we were grieving Fred." Ron said unconvinced, he could see Kaycee becoming slightly uncomfortable.

"Right I'm ready now, Ron I thought you were going to put those things out on the shelves." George entered the room, kissing Kaycee and breaking the tension which he just built up.

"Sorry, Kaycee came in and we started chatting." Ron picked up the jars from George's case and began to put them up on an empty bit of shelf.

Harry had been holding in his big announcement for four days now, while the formalities had been arrange, but now he was actually able to tell someone about it. He had almost bounded out of the office, eager to tell Ginny the news. Kingsley had made him keep things quite, while all the papers were signed and the important people were informed.

"How's your day been hunny?" Harry pulled in his wife for a long kiss.

"It's been good; you seem abnormally happy today. Have you been sleeping with the secretary again?" Ginny laughed.

"Oh no, not today." Harry jested back. "I have some very important news to tell you so you might want to sit down."

"Sounds interesting." Ginny said, as they made their way to the couch.

"I was told a few days ago, but I finally get to tell you. You are looking at the next Minister for Magic!" Harry beamed at a stunned Ginny.

"That's amazing!" She finally responded by leaping up and hugging Harry. "I am so please for you; when is the change over?"

"It's not for another six months, so plenty of time to prepare."

"I can't believe it, Harry Potter is Minister for Magic."

"I can't believe it either; if you asked me if I wanted this job 12 months ago, I would have laughed in your face."

"Are we going to have to move? I don't really fancy having to get used to another new house."

"No we don't have to move if you don't want to." Harry and Ginny spent the rest of the evening planning the next few months and decided to move their wedding forward, so it they would be married before Harry became Minister. Harry still could believe how well his life had progressed since the war and only hoped it would continue.

"What were you and Ron talking about this morning?" George said, as he and Kaycee sat down on his couch.

"Oh nothing, we were talking about the Chudley Cannons."

"You're not a fan of the cannons too?"

"Yep I'm afraid I am." Kaycee smiled.

"God, I can't believe I'm in love with a Cannons fan." George suddenly become still, with the realisation of what he had just said.

"Did you just say what I think you did?"

"I think I might have." George was hoping Kaycee would come up with a better response.

"I love you too George." He was relieved at first, but he soon became overjoyed.

"You do?"

"Yeah I didn't want to say anything and see you run away."

"I would never run away." George kissed Kaycee hard, his emotions were pouring out and he was struggling to contain himself.


	8. Kaycee's Secret

George couldn't take the huge grin off his face, as he made his way around to his brother Ron's home. Fred was with Molly and Hermione was shopping for wedding dresses with Ginny for the day so the boys had decided to hang out at Ron's place. George couldn't believe his little sister was getting married, but if he'd wanted it to be anyone he would want it to be Harry. He was already practically family, so he may as well become family legally.

"Geez George what took you so long?" Ron said opening the front door, before he'd even had the chance to knock.

"Sorry I got caught up in something." He said, passing his brother in the doorway.

"What is with that ridiculous grin?" Ron laughed at the expression on his older brother's face.

"I'll tell you in a minute; I have some big news." George walked straight in to the living room, where Harry was slumped on a couch. "You look tired man."

"It's this wedding; Ginny is in full planning mode and has me running around preparing all these things." Harry let out a huge sigh.

"It is your wedding too you know." George laughed.

"I know, but Ginny has me helping with things I didn't even realise I needed arranging. Like bloody centrepieces, who on earth needs to put things in the middle of the table? Why can't we just be happy with plates and cutlery on the table? Why do we need some weird little statue or whatever in the middle of the table?"

"Ginny wants weird little statues on the table?" Ron asked, bemused.

"No, but there were some in the shop we were in yesterday. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff people want."

"You still have months more of this stuff; trust me Harry." Ron laughed. "Anyway, George has some big news for us." The room went silent, before George collected himself.

"Yes, as you know I've not been the greatest over the past year and since I've met Kaycee things have infinitely improved. Well I thought that she was such a good influence on me that I have asked her to move in with me."

"You what?" Ron couldn't stop the words coming out of his mouth, before he said them.

"Do you not think it's a good thing?" George looked stunned.

"Erm yeah, but do you not think it is a little quick?"

"We really like each other and we spend most of our free time together, so I don't see what the big difference is."

"Sorry it's just a little bit of a surprise, but I'm really happy for you."

"Yeah, George that is fantastic; congratulations." Harry patted George on the back. "When is she moving in?"

"Two weeks." George began to beam again.

On Diagon Alley Hermione was sat in the open plan dressing room of Timms' Wedding attire, as Ginny tried on her fourth dress of the day. It was the first opportunity Hermione had to drink, since she had Fred, so she was taking advantage of the free champagne, she was being handed. They'd not had lunch yet so it was going to her head and she was beginning to get a little giddy.

"What do you think of this one?" Ginny walked out of the cubicle, with a corseted dress. The dress flowed out from the bottom of the corset, until it hit the floor. The dress was plain and simple, but it looked more stunning than any of the fancier dresses she had tried on.

"Ginny it's wonderful." Hermione gushed; she wasn't sure if it was the drink, but she could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

"I think this is the one, but it is so expensive." Ginny twirled in the mirror, taking in how the dress hugged her curves.

"You don't have to worry about the price, because Ron and I have already agreed that we will pay for it." Hermione smiled.

"No Hermione, you can't do that! You two have got a new born baby and you're going to need all the money you have" Ginny shook her head.

"I'm afraid we've decided on it and it's going to happen. We want to give you a wedding present and I've recently got a pay rise so we can definitely afford it."

"Hermione, I can't thank you enough for this." Ginny pulled up the front of her dress, so she could run over and hug Hermione.

"Don't worry about it; now, do I have to get out my galleon card for this or do we need to keep looking?" Hermione smiled.

"This is definitely the one, I don't want to ruin it by looking at any others."

"Yay." Hermione squealed. "I still can't believe you're getting married." She continued, as they made their way towards the till.

"I know I can't believe it either, but I can't wait."

"I think it will probably be best if I keep the dress around mine, so Harry doesn't see it before the big day."

"Yeah, but don't tell Ron where you've put it or he will blurt it out to Harry."

"I don't think they have conversations about wedding dresses, but I won't tell Ron." Hermione laughed.

"You can never be too careful; I don't need any bad luck before the wedding."

"What are we going to do; we can't put it your house now. Harry is with Ron and George at yours."

"We can put it in your room at the Burrow, while we have dinner, and sneak it out before everyone leaves." Hermione answered.

"Oh my God, I completely forgot about the meal at the Burrow." Ginny's flew up to her mouth. "I can't imagine the Burrow without my mum and dad; I'm so glad George has decided to buy it."

"It's going to be weird not having massive family meals there; I wonder what the new house will look like." Once Hermione had bought the dress, they apparated to the Burrow and stashed the dress away in Ginny's old room. The two friends giggled, as they left the room and made it down to the Weasley kitchen. Molly was currently laying the table with the best china; she had already extended it to fit the extra guests. A few Ministry members from Arthur's department were coming to visit and members of the order, who had survived the war.

"Would you like some help Molly?" Hermione said, picking up some plates.

"Oh, yes please; if you wouldn't mind putting those plates out and getting some of the food from the kitchen. Ginny is your dress safely away now?" Molly looked relieved to have some assistance.

"Yeah I've put it in my room for now, but I'll have to think what to do with it tomorrow."

"I'm sure if you talk to Fleur she won't mind helping you keep it from Harry." It wasn't long before people started to arrive and stories about the burrow were being shared across the dinner table. Thirsty, Ron decided to go to the kitchen, where he bumped in to Kaycee doing the same. George had just announced they were moving in with each other.

"You doing alright, you left the room pretty swiftly." Ron broke the silence.

"Yeah, I'm just not used to these family occasions." Kaycee smiled nervously.

"So you're not thinking of bailing out on my brother."

"Oh no, I really like George and I really want to move in with him."

"Good, because if you hurt my brother."

"I wouldn't do that." Kaycee snapped back.

"He has been through a lot this past year, we all have, and he doesn't need someone to put him back to square one. I know you are up to something, I can't figure out what it is, but you better stop it right now. Whatever it is you better stop or leave, because I don't want to see my brother go back to how he was." Ron tried to keep his voice low, he didn't want the rest of the family to here this.

"You know nothing about my life, so back off ok."

"I'll figure it out." Ron said, as Kaycee moved to leave the kitchen.

"Piss off and leave your nose out. I am with your brother and you will just have to accept it." Kaycee left the kitchen, to join the Weasleys again. Ron took a few moments to calm down, before he went back to his seat.

"What was that about?" Hermione said, as he sat back down.

"What was what?" Ron did his best to look confused.

"You walk in to the kitchen and then two minutes later Kaycee comes flying out looking like she's seen a ghost." Ron loved his wife for noticing things, but sometimes he wished she didn't.

"Oh that was nothing; she was just telling me how nervous she was about moving in with George. She says it's the first time she's ever moved in with someone."

"Do you think me or Ginny should have a talk with her?"

"No, I think she'll be fine. It's just a bit o pre-match nerves you know." On the other side of the table, Kaycee's mind was spinning around with the conversation she'd just had with Ron. She had to meet with Greg Thurkell first thing in the morning, but she was having second thoughts about it. The whole night she spent sleeping next to George, all she could think about was the meeting. Kaycee hadn't slept a wink and she yawned hard, as she made her way to the Leaky Cauldron.

"It's good to see you Kaycee, is the story finally done?"

"Yes Mr Thurkell, but I'd like to talk to you about it." Kaycee said, sitting down in the chair opposite him.

"We can talk about this, once we've printed the story. No one has had an interview from Potter, or anyone else involved, since the end of the war. Do you know the sort of money this is going to make us?"

"I don't think we should print it after all; the Weasley's are such a nice family and I don't want to betray their trust like that."

"After all this effort, you don't want to print the story; sorry but no can do." Mr Thurkell's face wasn't so jolly any more. "You are going to hand me over that story or I won't pay you a penny. Don't forget I know your situation; I know that you need this money."

"I'm moving in with George and I can find a new job." Kaycee stood up to leave.

"Fine, if you won't give it to me then I will find George Weasley and tell him everything you've done." Mr Thurkell was now also standing and talking in a loud whisper.

"You wouldn't dare." Kaycee walked out of the pub.

"You clearly don't know me; now hand it over before I have to take it from you." He begun to back Kaycee up against a wall; finally her nerve broke and she handed over the article. "Thank you very much, now I hope to see you in the office on Tuesday morning. I have another little project for you.

"What makes you think I still want this job?"

"Well once this article comes out, on Monday morning, your little George won't want anything to do with you."

"If I explain the situation he might let me stay."

"Wishful thinking love; I will see you on Tuesday morning." With that Greg Thurkell walked off down Diagon Alley. Kaycee apparated from the spot she stood, to her run down flat. Once inside, she stared at the bare surroundings and started to cry. She couldn't believe she'd ruined her career and her relationship with George; she broke down once again and couldn't stop crying.


	9. From bad to worse

George was almost skipping to the shop, as he held a cheque in his hands for the shop rent. He had worked hard for the past few weeks, to get the shop's takings up, and it had almost worked. He didn't have all the money that Alf had wanted, but he was hoping to find him on a good day and get a reprise on the last thousand galleons. George couldn't thank Kaycee enough for the help she'd given him and he was planning a romantic meal together, this evening. Alf was waiting for him, in the shop's office, with an apprehensive look on his face.

"So George, have you done me proud?" Alf examined the look on George's face.

"Well I did my best." George tentatively pulled the cheque out of his pocket. "I don't have all the funds, but I do have most of them."

"How much are most of them?" Alf stood up.

"I am only one thousand off; I promise I can have the rest and next month's rent at the end of the month."

"To be honest George you did a lot better than I expected; I gave you such a high figure to try and scare you in to getting the money. I didn't actually expect you to get this much, just try not to get in to this situation again; I would like the rest of it by the end of the month."

"Really, you're not mad that I didn't get all of the money?" George was a little surprised by Alf's reaction.

"No, I'm glad you finally pulled your act together; I know you've been through a tough time and it's nice to see you getting it back together."

"Thank you so much Alf, I promise I won't let you down.

"I hope so, because I don't want you letting my trust down. I'm not the monster you think I am." Alf laughed.

"Now, I will take that cheque and I think you have a business to run." Alf took the cheque in his hand and walked down the stairs, outside the office. George waited until he left, before he collapsed in to the chair and screamed with joy. He couldn't believe that he was keeping the shop; he began to dance around the room.

"Is this a new job you've taken up?" George stopped immediately, as he noticed Kaycee standing in the doorway.

"We've got the shop." George grabbed Kaycee around the middle and spun her around.

"What?"

"I gave the money to Alf and he said he won't throw us out." George grinned from ear to ear.

"He wasn't mad, because you didn't have all the money?"

"Nope, he was just happy I had some of it."

"That's wonderful!" Kaycee kissed him, as he pulled her in close. Their hands began to roam each other, before they were interrupted by a knock at the front door.

"Crap, we need to open up." George looked at his watch. "I am talking you out to dinner this evening, to celebrate." He kissed her quickly, before running downstairs to open the shop.

At the Burrow Molly and Arthur were packing up the last of their things, before heading off to their new home. They had tried to throw out as much stuff as possible, to make the move easier, but Arthur found it hard to get rid of some of his muggle artefacts.

"I'm sure Harry will be able to replace them, he knows a lot about muggle things." Molly said, as she picked up some of the things Arthur wanted to keep.

"I know, but it just won't be the same. I've had some of these things for a long time and I don't just want to throw them out like that."

"You can't keep hoarding; we are moving in to a smaller house. We won't be able to fit in to the cottage, if you keep collecting things."

"I'll be able to throw some things away." He pushed Molly playfully.

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Molly said sarcastically. The couple had been packing all day; even with magic there was a lot to sort out. Molly has spent a lot of the time trying to get Arthur to throw some of the useless stuff away, but he couldn't be told. So when he wasn't looking she would get rid of some of the things, she knew he wouldn't miss. They would have the next few days to their self, before the rest of the family would join them to see the new cottage.

"I'm going to miss this place so much." Molly said, packing the last couple of items away.

"We are going to make our own memories, in our new place." Arthur turned to face her, putting his arms around her waist. "Bill is moving in here, so it's going to stay in the family."

"I know, but I've lived here for thirty-five years; it's like an extra member of the family. I won't miss the ghost though; at least I will be able to sleep properly at night, without all the banging."

"Right, the sooner we get this stuff sorted the sooner we can get settled in the new place."

"Where are Macey's Magical Removals? I owled them almost twenty minutes ago; they should be here by now." Molly said, looking at the clock on the wall. At that moment, there was a loud pop and a knock on the door.

"What is that muggle saying? Oh yes, as if by magic." Arthur giggled to himself, as he moved to open the door.

Ron was sat, holding Fred in his arms, in the living room of his flat, while waiting for Hermione to get ready. Hermione was going on a girls' night out, for the first time since she'd had Fred; they were celebrating the birth and Ginny's engagement to Harry. Ron hadn't been let alone with Fred, for such a long time, so he had invited Harry over to help him out.

"Do you think this looks ok?" Hermione came out in a dress, which finished just above the knee, and clung to, her newly discovered, curves.

"You look fantastic." Ron looked his wife up and down. "I hope you're not hoping to charm a few men in that dress." Ron grinned.

"I wouldn't dream of it; you're the only man for me." Hermione smiled sexily, as she kissed him. "I will send Harry right over, as soon as I get there. Fred's milk is on the counter, make sure you heat it up before you give it to him, and his nappies are in the cupboard, in the bathroom. Fred was asleep, so Ron just stared around the room until a pop indicated his best friend's arrival.

"Ah Harry, finally I thought you were never going to get here." Ron smiled.

"Hermione's only been gone for ten minutes."

"I know, what took you so long?" Harry decided not to answer, but just laughed at his friend.

In his flat George had spent the day, in a similar way to his parents, by packing and throwing away some things. Kaycee was going to be moving in a couple of weeks and he wanted to clear some space for her. He was on his way to pick up Kaycee, before making their way to the same restaurant they'd had their sort of first date. George really wanted to thank Kaycee for her hard work, with the shop, and had planned a special evening.

"He George, that suit looks great on you." Kaycee said, as she opened her front door. As usual, she didn't let him through the front door, and closed it tightly behind her.

"You're going to have to let me in there one day; you'll probably need some help moving out."

"Don't worry; I don't have that many things. I'll most likely be able to do it all by myself."

"I have a few things planned this evening for you; I can't thank you enough for the help with the shop. Doing all the flyers and getting us in to the prophet." Kaycee twitched slightly, at the mention of the prophet, but George didn't notice. "I was in a really bad place, before I met you and you've really helped me sort my life out."

"It was the least I could do; you've been so nice to me." She kissed him on the cheek. Kaycee could hardly look George in the eye, after she knew what she'd done. After a few minutes of walking towards the restaurant, she couldn't bear keeping the secret any longer. "George I have something I need to talk to you about."

"Can it wait? I want you to see this. I have rented the whole restaurant so we have the place to ourselves. The whole room had been elegantly decorated and a waiter was stood by the entrance to take them to their table.

"This is amazing George, but I really need to tell you something."

"Ok, but after we order our drinks."

"No now George, I can't hold it in any longer." Kaycee suddenly became quite curt.

"This doesn't sound good." George had a confused look on his face.

"George we didn't meet by chance; I came to your shop with the intention of meeting you." Kaycee took a few breaths before continuing. "When I moved to London, my family disowned me and I had no money. I came with the hope of becoming a journalist and working for the prophet, but there weren't really any opportunities."

"Where exactly is this going?" George interrupted.

"I'm getting there. The reason I don't let you in to my flat is because I'm embarrassed about where I live. My place is a complete dump, because I can't afford anything better and I can't afford to buy any furniture for it. So when I got offered the change to do an undercover article and earn some good money and possibly even a full time job at the prophet, well I jumped at the chance. The thing is they wanted me to do a piece about Harry Potter and his friends and how they are coping with their loss, after the war. George, you were my way in so I could meet your family. I didn't think I would fall in love with you.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"I had to hand in the article yesterday; I wanted for you to hear it from me, before it went out in the paper on Monday."

"So you love me so much that you handed in the article and are only telling me now, because I'll find out anyway. That's so thoughtful of you." Tears began to well up, in George's eyes.

"I didn't want to hand the article in, but they made me. They told me they would tell you and make sure I didn't see a penny of the money. I had to, the editor of the prophet is an ass and he threatened me; I was so scared."

"If you really did love me, you would have told me earlier and we could have sorted this mess out. I don't want anything to do with you; you realise what you've done to my family by doing this article?"

"Champagne, for the happy couple?" An oblivious waiter came over to the table.

"Yes thank you." George grabbed the bottle, before popping it open and walking out of the restaurant. He started to drink straight from the bottle, as he walked to Ron's flat. It was a good ten mile to Ron's, but he needed some time to clear his head before he spoke to someone.

"George, please let's just talk about this." Kaycee was running behind him.

"Please leave me alone; I told you I never want to see you again." With that, George apparated away from her to Ron's place. He couldn't hold in the tears any longer and he slumped up against Ron's front door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" George was blind drunk by this stage, and fell backwards in to the open door.

"We broke up." George slurred, as he lay on the floor.

"What?" Harry and Ron dragged George off the floor.

"Kaycee is an undercover journalist and she only dated me to get a story about Harry." George was now propped up on the couch.

"I'm so sorry mate." Harry looked sympathetically at George.

"I knew she was up to something." Ron muttered.

"You knew she was up to something and you didn't think it was a good idea to tell me?" George shouted.

"I didn't know what it was and I didn't think you would believe me if I told you."

"Well you're right there." George slumped back in the couch.

"Right I am going to make you something, non-alcoholic to drink and we are going to find something to take your mind off this."


	10. A Series of Firsts

Fire whiskey had become George's tipple of choice, once again, and he was firmly planted to his couch, with two bottles sat on the floor below him. He'd already made the majority of his way through the first one and had his eyes firmly on the second, unopened one. It had been four weeks since he'd broken up with Kaycee and he'd being burying himself in the shop for the month, but he'd finally cracked. Kaycee had come in to the shop, once or twice to try and explain things to him, but he didn't want to hear her excuses. She'd abused his trust and used him to get dirt on his family; he didn't think he could forgive what she'd done.

George had been sitting on the couch for the last couple of hours, with the wireless on in the background. As he downed the last few drops of whiskey, straight from the bottle, a knock on his front door caught him by surprise. He stared at the door for a few moments, unsure if he'd hear it correctly, until there was another knock.

"Who is it?" George slurred his word, but not moving from his seat.

"It's Angelina," came the reply from the other side of the door.

"What do you want?" George hadn't seen or heard from Angelina, for the five months since she walked out on him. He didn't know why she suddenly decided to turn up today.

"Can you let me in George; I want to see you. You can't let me stay out here all night, someone could get me." George toyed with the idea of leaving her stood outside, but he relented and let her in. "Oh George it's so good to see you; I've missed you." She kissed him on the cheek, before walking in to the flat.

"What are you doing here?" George stood, with the door still wide open, confused about what was happening. "You could have at least asked about coming around."

"I've been out of London, since we had that argument, and I've time to think. I was really harsh on you George, you've been through a lot and I should have been there for you."

"Well you're five months too late; I've sorted my life out."

"I can see that." Angelina looked towards the bottles on the floor.

"Don't you judge me; I've just had a bad time of it. Since you left me I have got the shop sorted out and got myself together, but somehow you manage to get here for the worst of it."

"I didn't come here to argue with you; I just wanted to talk." Angelina suddenly broke in to tears. "I'm sorry I'll go." She moved towards the front door.

"No don't go; I'm sorry that was pretty horrible of me." George grabbed her by the arm. "It's been a bad week for me, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"What happened?" Angelina wiped away a few of her tears.

"Well wouldn't you know; I've broken up with someone. I saved the shop to find out that my girlfriend had been using me for her career. She was supposed to be moving in with me, but now I'm on my own again." George poured himself another large glass of whiskey, before slumping back down on his couch.

"I'm sorry George, but at least you saved the shop." Angelina stroked his arm, trying to comfort him.

"I know I should be happy, but it really doesn't feel like a victory for me."

"The pain will go away."

"So what brings you back to London then?" George swiftly changed the subject.

"I went to live with my parents, because I've hardly seen them in the last few years, but I felt it was time to start my life again."

"So I'm not the only one with issues then." George grinned.

"No you're not; I wasn't really in the best place when we had that argument. I never told you this, but I lost my job that day and I'd wanted you to support me. I was stupid really."

"Oh thanks, I'm glad you think so highly of me." George was slightly offended.

"No I didn't mean it like that; I was stupid to expect you to know what was going on, without actually telling you. I was a bitch that day, but the time with my parents gave me time to think and reassess what was going on. I missed you while I was there; I missed spending time with you."

"We were both horrible to each other; I think we probably needed some time apart." The affect of the alcohol, he'd been drinking, was slowly wearing off, but he could still feel his head spinning.

"George, you need to stop using alcohol as the answer to your problems; one day it will be a problem for you." Angelina slid the glass from his hand and put it out of George's reach. "One or two glasses is ok, but not the entire bottle."

"Actually I was planning on drinking this second one too."

"Maybe you should save it for another time, share it out."

"You're her; we could share it between us. Come on Angelina, let your hair down!" George made to grab for the glass, Angelina had moved before.

"No come on, let's have something no alcoholic." Angelina laughed, as she tried to move the glass further away.

"Fine I'll take it straight from the bottle then." George opened, the full one, and begun to neck it.

"Could we have something a little more sophisticated, like wine?" She moved the bottle away from his lips. Without a word George stood up and walked in to the kitchen; he returned holding two glasses and a bottle of white wine. "Now you're talking."

The two managed to work their way through the whole bottle pretty quickly. "Now you wanted to talk so let's talk, considering my love life has been a failure, how's yours' been?"

"Non-existent really; I got close to this guy I knew before I moved away, but nothing really happened in the end. Other than that I've not really had anything apart from a couple of flirtations. It is hard to match up to you." George could feel Angelina's breath on his face, as she moved closer to him.

"We did go through a lot." His own breath begun to slow.

"It's hard to beat that." Angelina couldn't contain herself any longer and she grabbed George around the neck, before kissing him hard on the lips. Despite the way she'd dumped him, George still had some feelings for Angelina and they were all coming out now. He allowed his hands to roam her body, as he moved her in to a lying position on the couch. Angelina groaned, when George's hands reached under his top and cupped her.

"Do you think we should go in to your room?" Angelina asked, breathlessly.

"Yeah." George took her by the hand and led her in to his bedroom. He began to remove his own clothing, before removing some of hers. As things became more physical, George began to have second thoughts.

"I can't do this, I'm so sorry."

"What, why?" Angelina quickly began to dress herself.

"There is a reason we broke up and it had been coming a long time, I don't think we can make this work again." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, but Angelina said nothing. "I don't want this to be some sort of meaningless shag, I like you more than that. I want us to try being friends and I know this isn't exactly the best time to say it, but I think that's probably the best thing for us."

"You could have said something, before you had my clothes off." Angelina looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Angie; I didn't know what to think. Please don't be angry with me, we only started talking again. Stay the night, I don't want to apparating, after all the wine; you can have my bed and I'll sleep on the couch." Angelina finally relented and stayed the night in George's flat, before agreeing to spend the day with him.

Hermione was stood in her chambers at Hogwarts, as she prepared herself for her first day as a Hogwarts teacher. Today was the banquet and Minerva would be introducing her to the new students. She could feel her heart pounding and her hands were sweating, this felt like the most nerve wracking thing she'd done. Ron wasn't here yet, he was preparing everything for the move; he and Fred would be joined her in about a month. For now, Hermione was on her own and she would just have to brave it.

"You ready Hermione?" Cormac McLaggen knocked on her door. It had surprised Hermione to find out how much growing Cormac had done over the past year and Minerva had employed him as the flying teacher. Several of the teachers were from Hermione's year or a couple above; Minerva wanted young teachers to bring a new era to Hogwarts.

"Oh God, I'm so nervous." Hermione smiled through gritted teeth.

"You'll be fine, you know your stuff." Cormac gave his award winning smile.

"If you say so." The two young teachers made their way to the Great Hall, where they were to meet the new students later. Minerva was holding a meeting between all the teachers; she wanted to make Hogwarts reopening a special day.

"After the meeting we can walk around the grounds." Cormac suggested.

"You're not going to try and kiss me again?" Hermione laughed.

"I've grown up since sixth year and I've got a girlfriend."

"I know, I was just joking." Hermione nudged him playfully. "I nearly didn't recognise you when you walked in to the castle."

"Well I have got better looking since you last saw me."

"You've found me out." The pair laughed, as the other teachers looked at them, while making their way in to the Great Hall.

In London Harry was also enjoying his first day as Minister for Magic, but it was mostly ceremonial stuff. He'd held a press conference and done a broadcast on the wireless, before heading in to the office to talk to the decorators. He didn't think this was going to be part of it, but apparently each Minister got to choose their own decor. Harry wasn't really bothered what his office looked like, but some very picky woman was telling him how it should look. He found that if he nodded to everything she said that she would just leave him alone; he just hoped that he wasn't agreeing to something obscene.

"How is everything Mr Minister for Magic?" Ginny walked in to the office.

"Busy, but I can't wait to actually start doing my job." He greeted her with a hug.

"I can't believe Harry Potter is actually happy to be Minister for Magic; the man who said he'd rather clean toilets than be Minister for Magic."

"Well the toilets were getting a bit smelly." Harry laughed.

"I think you're going to be a brilliant Minister." Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "Definitely the best looking Minister I've seen." She kissed him again.

"Ginny there's people watching." Harry blushed.

"Well, when they've all gone." Ginny said suggestively, before walking around the office.

With the meeting over the new Hogwarts teachers were given a few hours off, to have some time to themselves before the teachers arrived. Hermione and Cormac made their way to the castle grounds, where they walked around catching up with each other. Cormac had really surprised Hermione; she didn't think someone could grow up so quickly. He was now someone she thought she could be friends with and that comforted her, with Ron not joining her for the next month.

"Did you ever think you wouldn't make it through the war?" Cormac asked.

"Everyday; I never told Ron or Harry but I was so scared. You might be a good wizard, but someone could catch you by surprise and then that's it. How about you?"

"I was terrified; so many of my neighbours vanished or turned up dead somewhere. I'm so glad we have come through the other side and now Harry is Minister so it looks like we are moving in to a better time."

"Oh my God, it's Harry's first day; I need to owl him and wish him good luck. I'm sorry Cormac, but I'll be back in twenty minutes." She gave him a quick hug, before legging it back to her room.


	11. Baby Daddy

George had spent the last week, since Angelina's return, burying himself in work; he had found it oddly refreshing, compared with drinking himself silly. Things had turned around at the shop and the takings had certainly improved, he'd enjoyed having Ron around the place. It also seemed like Ron was enjoying himself more, now that he was working at the shop. This morning Ron and George were preparing for the launch of a new product and they were expecting the Quibbler to come and report on it. They were setting up tables with food and some testers of the new product and a few other things. George refused to let the Daily Prophet step foot inside the shop, after the whole undercover incident, so they wouldn't be there.

"Right I think everything is sorted." George stood back and surveyed the shop. "Do you know I am really nervous about this, it has to be the most nervous he'd been in a while."

"Don't worry about it brother, today will go perfectly. I still don't know why you had us in here three hours before anyone was going to arrive."

"I want to have time to make sure this is perfect; this is the first big launch we've had since... oh my God Fred." George ran over to the calendar, which sat on the counter, and looked at the date on it. "I can't believe we forgot, it's Fred's anniversary."

"You're kidding, how could we have both forgotten?" Ron grabbed his coat before they both apparated over to his grave. "You know things have been so busy with this new product and Hermione going to Hogwarts, I've been forgetting all sorts."

"You know I don't think we've been up to his grave together, since his funeral." George smiled gingerly. He had always hated going up to see Fred with family, because it made things feel even sadder.

"I know, it's hard coming up here. You know I'm going to miss you, when I go to live with Hermione. I hope you can find someone to help you with the shop." Ron said, as they sat down on the grass by Fred's grave.

"I don't think I want another partner, but I'm going to start advertising for some staff soon."

"I can come and help you during the holidays, I'm sure Hermione will need a break from me every so often." Ron laughed.

"I think I need a break from you." George laughed, as his brother punched him in the arm. "Don't worry, I'll miss you too." The pair sat talking at Fred's grave and telling about what had been going on for the last few weeks. They spent an hour there before they headed back to the shop to make sure they were there for the first few customers.

Ginny was sat in the bathroom of her flat, on the toilet lid, with Hermione perched on the edge of the bath next to her. Hermione had the weekend off from Hogwarts and was spending some time with one of her closest friends.

"So these muggle things work then; how do you use it?" Ginny said, staring at the plastic stick in her hand.

"Yes, muggle women use them all the time. All you have to do is pee on it and then wait 3 minutes and it will tell you if you are pregnant or not."

"Your muggle things are weird; sometimes you are like my dad you know." Ginny gave a nervous laugh.

"I don't think your dad would ever hand you a pregnancy test." Hermione smiled. "Would you like me to give you some privacy, while you do the whole peeing on a stick thing."

"Yes please, but can you come straight back in. I need someone with me while I wait; I can't believe I might actually be pregnant."

"If you are I will be there to help you and Harry will be too." Hermione patted Ginny on the arm, before she closed the bathroom door behind her. Ginny was nervous about taking this test; she'd grown up a lot, due to the war, but she didn't think she was ready to have children.

"I'm done Hermione, can you come back in." Hermione didn't wait an instant, before she came back in. "No you are sure that peeing on this thing will tell me if I'm pregnant."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"That is completely disgusting, couldn't they had created something a little more hygienic." Ginny and Hermione laughed.

"So have you thought about what you would like to do, if you are pregnant?"

"Well we will have to move the wedding date; I don't want to have a baby before I'm married. I wanted to be like you and Ron and wait until we were married; you and Ron are the perfect couple."

"You think so, but we bicker all the time." Hermione looked confused.

"Yeah, but I can see how much you two love each other. My brother is useless most of the time." The two women laughed. "But the fact that he has made it work with you and now you have a baby, is testament to how much you love each other. I would never tell Ron this, but I look up to you two and if me and Harry end up like you two I will be a happy woman."

"I'm glad you think so; you two work and I know you are panicking about being pregnant, but it is only going to make you a better couple." Hermione and Ginny hugged. "Now be careful with that stick, I don't want to get any pee on my clothes."

"I think that has probably been three minutes by now. What does two blue lines mean?"

"Oh my God, you're pregnant Ginny!" Hermione started celebrating. "You are happy about this?" Hermione stopped, just in case her celebration was a bit premature.

"Yes, it's just going to take me a little while to adjust to this."

"You're going to be a mum, Ginny." Ginny was silent for a moment before she broke in to a smile and hugged Hermione back.

"I'm going to be a mum and I'm going to have to tell Harry, he is going to have a panic attack." She laughed.

"It can't be any worse than Ron's reaction; I thought he was going to run away."

The product release was going well, George and Ron had been run off their feet trying to keep everyone happy. The interview with the Quibbler had gone well, Luna's dad's paper had gone from strength to strength since the end of the war. There were a few customers left, but most had gone and so had the food.

"I think a drop of champagne is in order, we need to celebrate. Fred would be delighted to see this." Ron walked over to where George was standing, in the corner of the shop. George had been standing in the corner for the past few minutes, surveying his success.

"Yeah, I think he would." There was a small tear in George's eye.

"I'll be back in about ten minutes, do you need anything?"

"No, I think I'll start clearing up here." Ron left to go to the shop, as George began to tidy up the mess. It had been hard work today and, as much as he wanted to celebrate, he just wanted to go back to bed. Slowly the last few customers left the shop, leaving George on his own.

"Oh my God George it's out." Ron came running in to the shop, holding a paper in his hand.

"What's come out?" George looked very confused, while his brother waved the newspaper in his face. "Ron, what is it?" He grabbed the paper, from his hand.

"It's Kaycee's story, they've finally published it." George scanned the front page of the newspaper. _Inside the Potter family: Secrets behind the Wizard's closest friends and family. _Rage towards Kaycee began to build-up inside George's body; he couldn't believe she had actually let it be published.

"What took them so long to publish it? Kaycee said it would be printed ages ago." George put the paper down on the counter; he didn't want to read what it said.

"I don't know, but it's like four pages long; what exactly is there about us that is long enough to fill four pages?" Ron said, flicking through the paper.

"I couldn't care less; she can't have written anything that will make me hate her more, than her publishing the story in the first place. I would be too soon, if I never saw her again." It was as if he had summoned her, with his anger, as she appeared in the doorway moments later.

"I'll leave you to it." Ron said quietly, before standing up and leaving. George tried to ask him to stay, but Ron didn't listen to his protests. Kaycee made her way to the counter, where George was now shuffling on the spot.

"I guess you've seen the story then?" Kaycee pointed at the news paper, sat on the counter.

"What of it?" George said defensively.

"I came here to talk to you about it; I wanted to explain myself."

"I don't think you have anything to explain; you've done enough. You tricked me in to thinking you liked me, just so you could dig up some secrets about my family and use them to further your career. Does that sound about right to you?" George threw the paper in the bin and began to walk to the back of the shop.

"I did like you; I do like you." Kaycee followed him. "There is more to it than you think and I did ask him not to publish it. Please let me explain myself!"

"I don't need to hear from you. Now, if you don't mind, could you please leave and make sure you close the door on the way out." George slammed the office door of the shop closed.

"Please George, just give me ten minutes." Kaycee followed him in.

"Kaycee, I'm only going to say this once. Get off my property or I will call the police and have you done for trespassing." George pointed towards the exit. Tears started to well up in Kaycee's eyes, as she closed the door.

"Don't forget to close the door on the way out." George shouted after her.

"That was a little harsh. I mean I don't like the girl, but you were a little mean." Ron looked up from the paperwork he was sifting through.

"She deserves everything she gets. I was falling hard for that girl and she broke my heart; I've been through enough this year, so I don't need her adding to it." There was an uncomfortable silence, until George got up and left.

Ginny had barely moved all afternoon, after she'd found out that she was pregnant. Hermione had spent most of the day with her, but had gone to meet Ron and pick up Fred from her parents' house. She still hadn't absorbed the information, but she was going to have to tell Harry, who would be home in a few minutes, and hope he didn't freak. Her heart began to beat hard, as she heard Harry opening the front door.

"Hey Mister for Magic, how was your day?" Ginny kissed her husband-to-be.

"You don't have to greet me like that, every time I walk through the door." Harry laughed.

"I know, but I like it." She gave him a cheeky smile. "Harry, I need to tell you something."

"That sounds ominous." Harry's smile fell.

"Don't worry, it's not bad or I don't think it is." Ginny guided Harry to the couch; she thought he should be sitting for the news. Harry looked worried, although Ginny didn't blame him, she didn't really sell the story well so far. "Harry, I'm pregnant."

"Sorry what?" Harry had a half smile on his face, but he wanted to make sure he'd heard Ginny correctly.

"Harry, you're going to be a father, we're going to have a baby."

"That's wonderful." Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny and swung her around.


	12. Do happy endings exist?

Kaycee's eyes were red with the crying she'd been doing all night, since George had so cruelly rejected her. She didn't really blame him, after what she'd done to him, but she didn't think he would react quite like that. She had fought every step of the way to stop the story from being published and thought she'd managed it, but had only delayed it. The editor had offered her a full-time job and a proper salary, which would help her move out of the dump she'd been calling home. Despite how much she knew it would improve her life, she decided to quit and begin looking for another job. Not many places were employing, but she'd managed to find a job at a local paper writing the classifieds. It was a horrible job, but she finally had her foot on the ladder in the way she wanted.

It had only been a day since George had shown complete indifference to her, but Kaycee was making her way back down to see George. It was a long shot, but she hoped that if she bugged him enough, he would finally listen to what she had to say. The door was wide open, although George was nowhere to be seen. So she decided to take a look around, to see if he was anywhere, and bumped in to Ron, in the office, as she did so.

"What are you doing here?" Ron said, as he got himself back off the ground.

"I came to find George." Kaycee shuffled awkwardly, from foot to foot. She'd never really had the best relationship with Ron and didn't expect him to help her at all.

"I thought he told you where to go yesterday; he doesn't want you hanging around here anymore."

"Look, I just want him to listen to what I have to say."

"I think you probably said enough, when you had that article published." Ron said aggressively, as he moved towards her.

"I tried to stop them, that's why it was delayed, I tried so hard." Kaycee started to cry, which caught Ron slightly off guard. Ron had never known how to deal with crying women; when Hermione would cry he would give her ice cream or get Ginny to come over.

"I know you liked him, but you just have to accept that he doesn't want to speak to you again." Ron patted her on the shoulder.

"Please can't you just tell me where he is and then I can try talking to him again." Kaycee began walking towards Ron, who started to back away.

"I'm not going to tell you where he is, he would never speak to me if I did that... whoa!" As Ron was backing up, he'd managed to trip backwards over one of the prototypes lying on the floor. The little kick he'd given it sent it flying in to the wall and it blew up, with a huge bang. Ron was now lying on the floor surrounded by paper and Kaycee had been thrown backwards in to one of the desks.

"What the hell was that?" Kaycee said, as she slowly got up from the floor. Her back was a bit sore and her ears were ringing, but other than that she felt ok. "Ron? What just happened?" As the smoke began to clear she saw Ron was motionless on the floor. "Oh my God Ron, can you hear me?" Kaycee leapt across the room to him. She tried to get him to wake up, but she could see some blood seeping from his head, and apparated to St Mungo's.

Once they were there and the healers were seeing to him, she ran to the owlery to send a letter to George. It seemed a lifetime, as she was waiting, until George actually arrived at the hospital.

"What have you done to him?" George greeted her.

"I didn't do anything, he tripped over one of your prototypes and it blew up." George wasn't really listening to her, but instead he was looking around for Ron. "I spoke to the healers, before you got here, and they said he is going to be ok. He has a bit of concussion and a perforated eardrum, but other than that he will be good."

"Have you told my parents?" George finally looked her in the eye.

"No, I didn't want to worry them; I know how much your mum worries."

"Good decision, she would lose it if she knew Ron was in hospital. Which room is he in?"

"Just down the hall." Kaycee led George, to Ron's room.

"Thanks, you can leave now." George gave Kaycee a smile, before he waved towards her.

"No, I want her to stay. She saved me and I think you should really listen to what she has to say. I mean she almost had me and I hate the girl." Ron laughed; Kaycee did also.

"How're you feeling brother?" George gave his brother a tentative hug.

"Well not too bad, considering the circumstances; I have a ringing in my ear, but the healer said she'd get something for that soon. I'm going to get a bit of shut-eye, so perhaps you could get a coffee and have a listen to what Kaycee has to say." George gave him a confused look. "I'm not taking no for an answer George; go and talk to her."

George nodded obediently and walked out of the room, to where Kaycee was sitting on one of the chairs. He could see she'd been crying, while she was sat outside, and for the first time he felt a little bad.

"Kaycee, thank you for helping Ron out; I owe you at least one coffee." He pulled her out of her seat and they began walking towards the St Mungo's cafeteria. "I'm sorry I was so horrible to you yesterday, I should have listened to what you were trying to say."

"I don't really blame you; to be honest I probably would have done the same. I hate myself these days."

"So you have as long as it takes me to drink this coffee, to tell me what you want to say." George sat down and began to drink.

"When I moved to London I came with the hope of becoming this top notch journalist and it turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. In the end I got offered this trial at the Daily Prophet, but I had to go undercover and get the scoop on Harry Potter's family and friends. I would have to see what life was like for those who fought, after the war had finished. So when I did my research I realised that you were single and probably my best way of getting in with the family."

"Well I'm glad I have my uses." George said sarcastically.

"I didn't think ahead and how horrible it would actually be, abusing your trust like that, especially after I had fallen for you. Well I tried to get out of the project, but they said it was the way to boost their post war sales and they would make my life a living hell if I didn't submit the story. I kept trying to come up with ways of stopping them publishing it; I even got my friend to pose as a lawyer and threaten with legal action. Nothing I did stopped them, it only work to postpone them publishing it."

"I'm guessing they haven't hired you then?"

"I quit the day after you dumped me and I've managed to get myself a different job." Kaycee broke a small smile. "Well you've finished your coffee, so I guess that is my queue to leave." She got up and walked out of the hospital. George was left there trying to absorb all the information he'd just received. He was almost in a dazed state, as he made his way back to Ron's room and almost bumped in to several people on the way.

"So did you listen?" Ron looked up, from his bed.

"Yes, she had a lot to say." George was still slightly dazed, as he sat down next to his brother.

"And? What do you think?"

"I don't really know, it is a lot to take in. I still hate her for what she did, but you know at least she tried. So let's not talk about it right now; when are you going to be getting out of here?"

"The healer says, once the medication begins to work; so it'll probably be around an hour."

"Excellent, I'm going to have to catch up with Kaycee. I need to say a few things to her; you'll be alright here on your own?"

"I think I'll manage." Ron laughed. "You are making the right decision, you know."

"How would you know; you don't even know what I'm thinking."

"I can imagine." With that, George walked to the exit of the Hospital and apparated to Kaycee's front door. His heart began beating faster, as he waited for her to answer the door.

"What are you doing here?" Kaycee answered the door.

"I need to talk to you, can I come in?"

"Erm ok." George remembered that he'd never actually been in Kaycee's house before and realised why she never let him in. The place was completely devoid of any furniture or paint on the walls.

"I thought maybe we could start fresh and get to know each other again. I was thinking, now that everything is out in the open, we could go on a date."

"You're asking me on a date?" Kaycee had never imagined this would happen.

"You broke my heart, when I found out about that article. I haven't been able to get you out of my head since then and, as much as it pains me to say this, I still like you. This is your chance for a clean slate, but you are going to have to work harder to earn my trust and we are going to take it much slower this time."

"I can do that." Kaycee wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

"Remember, we are taking it slow so we'll have to go on a couple of dates before you get to do that again." George said with a cocked smile.

"Oh right, I'm sorry. I'll remember to take it slow." George kissed her on the head, before making his way back to St Mungo's to get Ron.


End file.
